non-Catholics and communion on the Camino

[Donald Schell]

Dear Jeff and all,

Your quotation is helpful, but Webster's not quite right on this;
> Webster says:
>
> "the miraculous change by which according to Roman Catholic and Eastern
> Orthodox dogma, the Eucharistic elements at their consecration become the body
> and blood of Christ  while keeping only the appearence of bread and wine".

The term 'transsubstantiation' comes from St. Thomas Aquinas's Aristotelean
interpretation of the consecration.  The Eastern Churches have kept to the
Greek Church's more neo-Platonist philosophical framework.  They tend not to
push so hard for a rigorous philosophical definition of how the bread and
wine become Christ's body and blood, and (partly from their old conflicts
with Monophysites who said the divinity of Christ swallowed up his humanity)
can be uncomfortable with St. Thomas's interpretation that insists there is
no substance of bread remaining after the consecration.  Much more typical
of the Orthodox would be to say 'This bread is Christ's body; this wine is
his blood.'

This sounds rather like Rosina's understanding (as her priest friend
encouraged) of not putting too much weight on a precise definition of
something that may be to large and rich to define.

What I know from my own pilgrim experience is that my longing to receive
communion at Pilgrim Masses along the way was simple, intense and holy.  And
I did receive.

donald
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