Concerning the Eucharist I have begun to think about how the devaluation of the Table from sacrament to ordinance has caused a loss of symbolism and metaphor in the meal itself.

When we come back to a sacramental view of the Table (and of life itself) we can begin to view the Eucharist as a multi-leveled act: a drama, if you will. We are re-enacting the Eucharist of Christ and his disciples at the same time as we re-enact the Eucharist of all the saints before and enact the Eucharist of our own community as we look forward to enacting the Eucharist for all time (characterized by the Great Feast). As an act that is past, present, and future, the Eucharist can begun to be seen in much the same way as Scot McKnight views atonement: a collection of metaphors that are all needed, like golf clubs fitting in a golf bag. ... more

The papal mass was on TV yesterday in the New York City area.  And by "on TV" I mean all of TV, as in channels 2,4,5,7,9, and 11---everything you can get with rabbit ears.  No sports, no political talk shows, not even infomercials.  Capitalism, entertainment, and politics all submitted, bowed down and gave way to the Pope and the Catholic mass at Yankee Stadium.  I thought this was simply extraordinary.  Not even the State of the Union address gets full six-channel, rabbit-ears coverage.  Time seemed to stop for the Pope, and all eyes were on Yankee Stadium not for baseball or a rock concert, but for a mass.

The mass itself was beautiful.  Before the Eucharist, prayers were offered in many languages, and the liturgy expressed the diversity found in New York City.  Every channel had an announcer and a color commentator, like they were covering the Rose Parade, yet I think that was actually a good thing.  Since the general public is naive about all things Christian, the commentators had to explain everything in great detail, including the doctrine of substantiation, why gifts are displayed before the pope, the significance of the bread and wine, the liturgical significance of prayer, the role of incense, etc.  All the Sunday afternoon TV viewers, so accustomed to old sci-fi flicks or Mets games, were funneled into the worship of thousands of people.

What a sight: thousands of people partaking in communion, and this receiving far more attention than baseball or the president for that matter. 

I was so encouraged by seeing the gospel displayed before all, not in fancy rhetoric or fiery preaching, but in the sacraments and song.  That is truly Christ proclaimed.  In the flesh, so to speak... ... more

There is a thought-provoking quote in The Other Journal's 2005 interview with John Milbank:

"I think that the body of Christ is St. Paul's image and I do think in St. Paul the economy of grace and the real economy are really linked with each other and the church essentially is a community of gifts---it's a community rooted in the Eucharist and in the reception of the life of God; and I think that when Paul characterizes the life of the church as a constant exchange of material gifts but also gifts in the sense of talents he insists these are for the up-building of the body. It seems to me that somehow what we fail often to think through is that grace is also material practice---or the meditation of grace is also a material practice---so that we're constantly supposed to be bestowing grace on each other and our social relations are supposed to go beyond simply duty or what is demanded towards always doing something extra." -John Milbank

What I find to be crucial in this is the return to an equality between material and spiritual health. N.T. Wright makes a similar point in his book The Lord and His Prayer when he comments that "forgive us our debts" means both spiritual debts and actual financial debts---that the material and immaterial are connected together. In short, the material and immaterial both form our existence, and we cannot separate them from one another without detriment to our theological lives.

When we live life as if we are in the parable of the wicked servant, forgiving economic debts and spiritual debts as the "good king" does, is when we walk the narrow road between gnosticism and materialism. ... more