Eucharist and the Hunger of the World

Again must we thank the legacy of the prolific, intelligent, orthodox, insightful and prayerful Professor Hellwig for providing such a clear and concise opening to a deeper appreciation of the fullness of the inifinite mystery of our Eucharist with the Mystical Body of Christ. This deceptively brief brochure of under one hundred pages provides a lifetime of meditation upon that Mystery which unites us with one another and with God in Compassion, Mercy, Family, Love, Unity, Remembrance and Caring. Furthermore its generous suggestions for further readings opens a portal to other perspectives and developments of prayer and thought upon this mystery, including the very influential and technical Theologian Dominican Father Edward Schillebeeckx's Eucharist and the writings of Father Tissa Balasuriya. Also cited as seriously authoritative are the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II Redemptor hominis and Laborem exercens. Further encyclicals cited are Pacem in Terris and Populorum progressio. Prof. Hellwig therefore leads us to a more profound knowledge, understanding and ever greater devotion to the Divine Presence, meaning and implicaitons of our Holy Eucharist. This book makes an excellent present for any new initiate to the Catholic Faith as well as any long time practitioner who desires to reawaken their understanding and fervor in the Faith. Excellent discussion questions follow each chapter for parish groups who wish to share persectives and form a stronger community of Faith. Please permit one interesting quote from a late chapter: "Before the COnstantine establishment of the fourth century the convistion was strong and apparently universal among CHristians that entry into the death and resurrection of Jesus was incompatible with any kind of participation in the killing of human beings. Such compromises were later made to restrain war, ( . . .) and finally in a rather broader more vaguely defined sense of a moral and spiritual commitment to make wars to defend 'our way of life' seen now as a holy thing. (p.84)" Whosoever partakes of the Eucharist cannot kill, but must live united in Love.

For Ms. Hellwig the Eucharist is not simply a linear production of the Body and Blood of Christ; it is a command to go out and seek the other who is hungry. I very much appreciate Ms. Hellwig's inclusive definition of hunger. "Basic hunger quickly broadens into the need for physical sustenance more generally - the need for warmth, cover, rest, clean air and so on. But equally pervasive, equally important and far more subtle is the need to be loved into being and the hunger in which that need manifests itself" (p. 8). The Eucharist for is not a subject in which we are forced to impose our own meanings on to make the Eucharist relevant for modern times, as many post-modern authors insist. Rather, Ms. Hellwig sees the sacrifice and mystery contained in the Eucharist. This mystery summons us, Ms. Hellwig insists, to a transformation from sin and selfishness and to life in the Trinity. This personal transformation is what the sacrifice is all about.