THE P RTAL
September 2018 Page 18
Offered , Blessed , Broken and Shared
Will Burton looks forward to the Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool
Early this month , the faithful will gather in
Liverpool for the first Eucharistic Congress in this country for one hundred and ten years ! It was in 1908 that the Eucharistic Congress was held in London . On that occasion it was explained to the people of this country in the Spectator magazine that , “ An International Eucharistic Congress is an assembly of bishops , priests , and lay-folk from all parts of the world who meet together to proclaim their belief in the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar , to assert the supremacy of the Holy Eucharist in human life , to discuss all matters connected with the Great Mystery , and to endeavour to promote and to develop practical devotion to the great Gift of our Lord ’ s love .”
It was too much for the Prime Minister . Herbert Asquith was offended by the proposal to hold a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of Westminster as the grand climax to the Congress . Protestants agitated for the procession to be banned . In the end Asquith did ban the procession of the Blessed Sacrament , only for the church to hold a procession without the Blessed Sacrament . This culminated in Benediction at the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood , Westminster .
Now such processions are a regular feature of Catholic life . In London , and many other places , our readers will have participated in them , for example , walking right through the West End of London at Corpus Christi time .
The Congress in Liverpool will climax in the way intended in 1908 , with a grand procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the centre of the city . Not only will many Ordinariate members be present , but The Portal will be there too .
This has led me to contemplate the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar . It saddens me when one attends mass that is really a memorial meal , with little emphasis on the Sacrifice of the Mass . As Mgr Andrew Burnham wrote in his excellent book “ Heaven and Earth in Little Space ”; the Anglican Eucharistic Rite uses the words of the Upper Room ( This is my body , this is my blood ) to take the congregation to that Upper Room and celebrate a memorial of that meal . The only reference to the Sacrifice is couched in such words as “ this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ”.
The Catholic mass however , uses those same words from the Upper Room to take the congregation through
that Upper Room to the foot of the Cross . This mass is all about the sacrifice offered by our Blessed Lord upon that tree . It is , as the Gospel writer St John makes clear , Our Lord ’ s Glory . Yes , hanging on that cross , is His glory
The great Anglican theologian and monk , Dom Gregory Dix wrote a book that was a labour of love for him . In “ The Shape of the Liturgy ” he uses the words : Offered ; Blessed ; Broken and Shared as describing the heart of the action of the mass . These words have been my constant companion for more than forty years now . They are important words that lead us to important truths .
First of all they describe the incarnate life of Our Lord Jesus . He is offered to us in the stable at Bethlehem . Mary and Joseph are the first to witness this great offering of the Son of God to us humans . Then the shepherds are privileged to be invited to witness the great offering , before those strange Magi from the east come to worship his offering . In the flight into Egypt , there is more of this offering , the offering of the refugee . In all this his offering of himself to us is complete . The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us .
At his baptism he is then blessed . The voice declares just who he is , and how precious he is to the Father , and therefore to us . Although he has no need of baptism , for what sins has he to confess and have forgiven , nevertheless he is blessed there in the waters of the Jordan . This blessing continues all his life long . In every parable , in every miracle , in all his teaching ; he is blessed , and this blessing is not just for him , it is also for us .
Then he is broken . Quite literally , his body is broken