Eucharistic Prayer and Theology
2004 New York, New York
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2004
Robert J. Daly, S.J. (professor emeritus of theology at Boston College)
Seminar Participants 2004
Seminar members: (in attendance) Fred Anderson, Robert J. Congdon, Timothy J. Crouch, Robert J. Daly, Arlo Duba (new member), Jerome M. Hall, Helmut Hoping (new member), Hoyt L. Hickman, John Kroeger, Charles S. Pottie, Geoffrey Wainwright, Stephen B. Wilson, Nancy L. Woodworth-Hill
Visitors from other seminars: Gail Ramshaw, John Weaver
Seminar Report 2004
Presentations and discussions:
- Congdon: “Virgil Michel on
the Sacrament of the Eucharist.”
The presentation and discussion focused first on Michel’s insistence on liturgy both as an indispensable basis for social regeneration as well as assurance that orthopraxis is not mere social activism, and then ranged widely to discuss the typical tensions between community/communalism and cultural individualism that are found across the spectrum of the American religious scene. - Daly: “Eucharistic Origins: From
the New Testament to Chrysostom/Basil: Theological Implications.”
The thesis—that the Eucharist now celebrated in the Church is not simplistically to be identified with the Last Supper, but rather, is what the Church, over centuries, learned to do—was welcomed by the seminar which then moved on to discuss its ecclesiological implications and its pastoral, catechetical, and homiletic ramifications. - Hall: “What the Prayer Texts
Say about the Person Who Is Proclaiming Them.”
Along with the massive, late 20th-century change, especially in the Roman Catholic Church (from seeing the priest as a performative agent acting in persona Christi to seeing the whole liturgy as bringing about sanctification), there has yet to be extensive discussion about the presence of Christ in the one who presides. The discussion began to identify some of the theological issues related to this question, and which also may be useful when this inquiry is extended to the other sacraments. - Wilson: “Liturgy and Ethics:
Some New(er) Beginnings.”
Using, among others, Virgil Michel and Don Saliers as background, this project hopes to provide liturgists and ethicists with a common language on this theme. The discussion pointed out that Roman Catholics and United Methodists are the two confessions most likely to talk about this theme. It also noted that the issues raised by Michel and Saliers are still important and have yet to come to full fruition. Thus, back to the source: the liturgical action as source and catalyst of deepening our relationships to God and to each other. - Anderson and Weaver. “New
Settings and Motets for Eucharist at the Madison Ave. Presbyterian Church.”
Anderson reported on what has become a three- to four-year process of teaching, educating, and consulting: an order of Sunday service that goes: Preface, Eucharistic Prayer, Intercessions/Petitions, Epiclesis, Lord’s Prayer, Words of Institution, Communion, and “Lord Jesus, quickly come!” Discussion focused (1) on issues like placing the petitions after the epiclesis, the location of the words of institution, the experience of three persons sharing the presidency, the connections between the homily and the intercessions and current events; and (2) on the highly successful community singing, including Weaver’s hymn/motet: “Gift of God for God’s Own People." - Ramshaw: “Eucharistic Praying
with Catherine of Siena.”
Selectively assembled from recorded words of Catherine, this prayer has been successfully used by some communities, e.g., on her feast. The fascinating discussion focused on (1) liturgical prayer addressing the Trinity as a whole instead of by the individual personal names of Father, Son, Spirit; (2) the liturgical and aesthetic appropriateness of using this kind of oral style; (3) the difficulty some might have in effectively appropriating such a style in liturgical proclamation; (4) using nouns rather than (as customary in the West) verbs as metaphors for God. - Daly: Brief presentation and discussion of two new models for “eucharistic” praying in non-eucharistic liturgical situations: “Interreligious Prayer for Lawmakers, Administrators, and Persons with Public Responsibility” and “Prayer for a Graduate School Commencement Ceremony.”
In preparation for the future work of the seminar, seven topics were proposed for possible presentation and discussion next year.