{"id":31544,"date":"2015-10-13T14:21:25","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=31544"},"modified":"2015-10-13T14:22:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:22:02","slug":"two-comments-on-cardinal-mullers-sacramental-theology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/13\/two-comments-on-cardinal-mullers-sacramental-theology\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Comments on Cardinal M\u00fcller\u2019s Sacramental Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Corriere della Sera <\/em>just ran an interview with Cardinal Gerhard M\u00fcller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, about the synod underway, and especially the leak of the letter to the pope from thirteen<\/span> … nine<\/span>\u00a0… thirteen cardinals. You can read the whole thing (in Italian) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I will limit my comments to the cardinal\u2019s response to one question \u2013 communion for the divorced and remarried. Asked what can be done in such cases, he said,<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are suffering because their marriages are broken, not because they cannot go to Communion. For us, the center of the Eucharist is the consecration. Each Christian has the obligation to go to Mass, but not to go to Communion. To concentrate on only one aspect resolves nothing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two points, one more pastoral, one more theological.<\/p>\n

First, it is rather insensitive to speak so glibly about how others are not suffering. Perhaps some people in this situation care little about the prohibition on going to Communion. But surely there are others who are hurt by it \u2013 perhaps a little, perhaps more. (I recall an older man in a hospital bed who cried because he couldn\u2019t receive.) It befits any ordained minister, and certain a high official of the Holy See, to show sensitivity to any human suffering and not minimize or dismiss it. All the more when the suffering has to do precisely with the great importance we attach to the Blessed Sacrament.<\/p>\n

Second, while it\u2019s not heretical, it\u2019s rather unfortunate Cardinal M\u00fcller says that \u201cthe center of the Eucharist is the consecration.\u201d This almost suggests a mechanistic understanding of sacraments with undue focus on the power of the priest and the \u2018thingness\u2019 of the sacrament apart from its spiritual purpose. But the entire Eucharistic Prayer is ordered toward, and reaches its fulfillment in, the communion of the people. As John Paul II wrote in Ecclesia de Eucahristia <\/em>16: \u201cThe saving efficacy of the sacrifice is fully realized when the Lord\u2019s body and blood are received in communion. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion.\u201d To say that \u201cyou got to be there for the consecration, so don\u2019t worry about receiving Communion\u201d not only fails to be consoling, it is also theologically suspect.<\/p>\n

Please note, everyone: in critiquing the prefect\u2019s unfortunate comments, I have said not one word in favor of communion for the divorced and remarried. That is another issue entirely.<\/p>\n

One could certainly hold to the discipline of the Church in this matter, while also maintaining a right relationship between the Eucharistic Prayer and the communion of the faithful, and showing great sensitivity to those who understandably suffer because they are not able to receive sacramentally the Lord they love.<\/p>\n

As it is, Cardinal M\u00fcller has done his cause no favors. He has only strengthened the impression that the traditional discipline is tied to the worst of the old theology and comes from people who aren\u2019t on board with Francis\u2019s repeated calls for bishops to be close to their people.<\/p>\n

awr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cPeople are suffering because their marriages are broken, not because they cannot go to Communion.” – Cardinal M\u00fcller<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mass","category-marraige"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo Comments on Cardinal M\u00fcller\u2019s Sacramental Theology - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/13\/two-comments-on-cardinal-mullers-sacramental-theology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Comments on Cardinal M\u00fcller\u2019s Sacramental Theology - 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