Chris McDonnell, UK
christymac733@gmail.com

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June 27, 2018

Tomorrow, June 28th is the anniversary of a great 20th Century theologian, the Dominican friar, Herbert McCabe. His death, in 2001, was marked with obituary notices that recognised the original qualities that he brought to Christian witness in our time. Honest, forthright and often mischievous, he was willing to go places and ask questions that others avoided. He took risks and was prepared to suffer the consequences.

A staunch opponent of the growing nuclear arsenal in the 60s, he was not afraid to be honest in his appraisal of issues facing the Church. I can still remember one morning just before Christmas in 1966, when the curate in our parish in Yorkshire (yes, we did have curates then) arrived in our home in a state of shock. It had been announced that morning that Fr. Charles Davis, a well known and highly respected English theologian, had left the Church he considered 'corrupt'. It was for that reason that McCabe was critical of the decision taken by Davis.

Writing in the Editorial of New Blackfriars, a Dominican journal, the following year, he noted that 'of course the Church was corrupt but that was no reason to leave it.' His honesty cost him the editorship. Re-instated some three years later he famously began his editorial that month with the line 'As I was saying before I was so oddly interrupted...'

His integrity was evident throughout his life and many owed him a debt of gratitude for sustaining their faith in a troubled world.

My few words in the first Tabloid copy of the Catholic Times - which is a more manageable and convenient read - lost their conclusion.

'This time of year is often the occasion of First Communion.

With bare, open hands we stand in utter stillness

before the Table of the Lord.

As once we did then, so still we do now

Christ-caught, hand-held

with this shared Eucharistic Bread broken between us

and a cup to satisfy our thirst.

Later in the silence of thanksgiving

pause to share with others this simple, awesome gift.

Be at one

in a time

of prayer.'

With the month of June at an end this weekend, the annual parish occasion of our young children receiving the Eucharist has been and gone. So what happens now? When will be the next time that they celebrate the Eucharist and receive sustenance for their journey? Without the razzmatazz of clothes for the occasion and the arrival of relations, will they be offered the Sacrament in order that we may 'be at one in a time of prayer'?

Might I be allowed a few moments of reflection on a trend that is becoming more prevalent and somehow, to me at least, seems contradictory? Anxious, as we rightly should be, to reflect the clear wish of the good Lord -"take, eat and drink, in memory of me", an action - our focus is being shifted from this central instruction towards that of silent adoration, sometimes immediately before or after Mass.

The essence of those few words lost a couple of weeks ago is just that, food for the journey, a gift of life. The Eucharist is the gathering of the People as a priestly people who through Christ and in the Spirit celebrate the new banquet giving thanks and praise to the Father.

Much time and effort has no doubt been devoted to the planning of this Eucharistic Congress; that it is to be centred in the city of Liverpool is somewhat ironic after the short shrift given by Rome to the 'Easter People' document that followed the national gathering there in 1980.

Too often we are seeking to adopt past practices and devotional habits to meet the challenges of our current times. The broken bread of the Eucharist that we have shared these last few weeks with our young ones must be continually offered to them in the months and years ahead. And how will we ensure this option as fewer and fewer numbers come forward for ordination and the celebration of Eucharist becomes a rarity? That is the central issue the Congress should address, how the Church satisfies our needs on the journey given the instruction of the Master.

For all its problems and difficulties, Herbert McCabe was correct, they are no reason to leave the Church, as he said when he admonished Charles Davis. In fact, belief in a perfect Church is a non-starter. Those of us who regard it as home have nowhere else to go, whatever gripes we choose to level at the way it is.

May those who attend the Congress in Liverpool this Autumn do so with faith in the Risen Lord 'with this shared Eucharistic Bread broken between us and a cup to satisfy our thirst'.

END

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