We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Eucharist and Eschatology
FREE Catholic Classes
Address by Father Louis Aldrich of Taipei
TAIPEI, Taiwan, MAR. 01, 2005 (Zenit) - Here is the address delivered by Father Louis Aldrich of Taipei, during a recent worldwide videoconference of theologians, on the Year of the Eucharist. The Vatican Congregation for Clergy organized the videoconference.
* * *
The Church Militant and each Christian lives within the eschatological reality of an "already" and "not yet" achieved salvation. The Kingdom of God is already among us, we already share in the heavenly banquet; but this sharing in God's Kingdom and this banquet has not yet been achieved in its final, definitive fullness.
The Church, therefore, lives in hope of attaining this final fullness, a hope strengthen by already participating in the eschatological promises.
The promise of final salvation through the grace of Jesus Christ is experienced as "already" present in a pre-eminent way in the Eucharist. For in the Eucharist not only are the saving graces of Jesus made available, but Jesus himself is really present among us, body and blood, soul and divinity.
In "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" John Paul II explains how the Eucharist is the pledge of all our eschatological hopes:
"The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ; it is in some way the anticipation of heaven, the 'pledge of future glory.' In the Eucharist, everything speaks of confident waiting 'in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.' Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the world: 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.' This pledge of the future resurrection comes from the fact that the flesh of the Son of Man, given as food, is his body in its glorious state after the resurrection."
Those who participate in the Eucharist and "share in the first fruits of a future fullness" are strengthen to work for bringing the Kingdom of God among us now.
Cardinal Arinze has emphasized the following points in this regard. Participating in the Eucharist calls us to effective action for the sake of the poor, the sick and all those in need: "Christ washed the feet of his apostles to teach them that the Eucharist sends us to actively love our neighbor." This active love includes "initiatives to promote development, justice and peace."
One positive example of the relationship between the Eucharist and the Kingdom of God is seen in the work for the poorest of the poor done by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Negatively, we see the vicious cycle of declining participation in the Eucharist with the increasing dominance of the culture of death in formerly Catholic nations.
In conclusion, let us follow the advice of Cardinal Arinze and implore the Father that the Eucharistic sacrifice "becomes for each of us the center of our day and our week."
Contact
Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org
CA, US
Catholic Online - Publisher, 661 869-1000
info@yourcatholicvoice.org
Keywords
Eucharist, Eschatology, Vatican, Clergy, Aldrich, Taipei, Church
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol