THE HOLY EUCHARIST AND CATHOLIC SACRAMENTALS

INTRODUCTION

The Catholic Church is the world’s largest and Christianity’s oldest religious body. She has about 1.2 billion members inhabiting the width and breadth of the earth, comprising a large percent of human population. She is far and away the most popular religious concept the world has ever known. Paradoxically, the Catholic Church is also the world’s most controversial religious concept. She is embedded with mysterious enigmas, religious riddles and theological puzzles. She has been challenged severally by protesters who viewed her faith as illogically unreasonable or as a religious delusion or emotional depravity or at best a hopeless hypothesis. Most of those even in the faith are gullibly treading on an unconscious path coloured in their conjectural answers about their faith. In charades, many Catholics cannot even elucidate on themes or articles of their faith. The Catholic doctrines and teachings are therefore characterized as unexplainable dogmas and mysterious pedagogies.

The Holy Eucharist and Sacramentals are such of those teachings that have torn veils in Christendom. Starting with Jesus’ teaching on the Holy Eucharist in John’s gospel, there have been many divides as to the sanity in these doctrines. More so, in this contemporary age, religious wars have been stirred based on these teachings and more heretics have been identified based on their own ridiculous memorabilia of the sacrifice of Jesus.

The focus of this lecture therefore, is to examine thoroughly, though briefly, the Catholic understanding of these two articles of belief. We are a people of faith and as St. Anselm puts it, understanding God is basically “faith seeking intelligence” (Fides qauerens intellitetum) not the other way round.   

A MEMORABILIA IN THE CHRISTIAN WORSHIP: DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME!

Eucharist is from the Greek word eucharistein and eulogein meaning thanksgiving and that recalls the Jewish blessing that is proclaimed especially during a meal. Eucharist is an action of thanksgiving to God. CCC 1328.   

What is a memorabilia? In the first instance, memorabilia is an object connected with a famous person. In another instance, memorabilia are personal souvenirs of important personal events or experiences. In the two instances, Jesus left for us a memory of himself which should turn into his perpetual presence in the world. (cf. Matt.28:19)

The Eucharist is the centre and the heart of the entire Liturgy of the Catholic Church. For in it she fulfils, day after day and all over the world the command that Christ gave to his apostles on the night before he suffered, when he said to them: “Do this in memory of me”. And so our celebration is rooted in the commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus, in a sacred tradition to which Saint Paul testifies:

For this is what I received from the Lord and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it and broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me”. In the same way he took the cup after supper and said, ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me’ (1 Cor. 11:23-25).

Furthermore, the Eucharist is not only a memorial of the Last Supper of Jesus, it also commemorate his sacrifice on the cross. Also, it is not simply a matter of recalling past events but of making these events truly present. In each Eucharist, Christ is present and active in the very act of his Passover, that is to say, in his death and resurrection, by which he saves us, gives us his life and unites us to himself. In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit on the bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the body and blood of Jesus Christ and so that those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit.

Hence, with a special power given only by God to only ordained priests, the injunction of Jesus at the Last Supper is made possible. This is TRANSUBSTANTIATION as it is technically known “The change of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ”. St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The Priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my Body, he says. This word transforms the things offered. (C.C.C 1375).

St. Ambrose corroborates this conversion saying:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed… Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature. (C.C.C 1375).        

THE HOLY EUCHARIST IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION: A SCRIPTURAL EXEGESIS.

Prefiguration in the Old Testament: In the Old Covenant, bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the fruits of the earth, as a sign of grateful acknowledgement to the creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the word of God; (Dt 8:3) their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God’s faithfulness to his promises. The “cup of blessing” (1 Cor 10:16) at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the re-building of Jerusalem.

The New Testament: When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and cup. The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, break and distribute the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigures the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist.(Mt. 14:13-21, 15:32-39) The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already announces the Hour of Jesus’ glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father’s kingdom, where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ. (Jn 2:11). The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (Jn 6:60).       

The Institution of the Holy Eucharist: The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. (Jn 13:1) in order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make the sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection and commanded his apostles, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament.   

HOLY EUCHARIST AS THE CENTER OF OUR FAITH: CULMEN ET FONS

It is good to remind us that the Holy Eucharist completes Christian Initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of his royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by confirmation, participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. CCC 1322.

The Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life”. The other sacraments and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch. In brief therefore, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking.”       

Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice: Because it is the memorial of Christ Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrifice character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: This is my Body which is given for you…” In the Eucharist, Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (C.C.C 1365).  

The sacrifice of Jesus is what makes the community of the Church. When the Church- each individual community, and in particular each parish celebrates the Eucharist, all should be aware that she is a community brought into being by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Thus, she is also a community of thanksgiving and praise, a community united in shared communion. The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received.

Uniting power of the Eucharist: When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, we, as Christians are united individually with Christ, and we eat of the same Bread, which is the very Body of Christ, we are equally united, as Christians, with one another in the deepest and most intimate manner possible. That is why the Eucharist makes the Church. Our union in the Eucharistic Body establishes the mystical Body of Christ.   

Fruits of the Holy Eucharist:

·         Holy communion augments our union with Christ

·         Holy communion separates us from sin

·         The unity of the Mystical Body of Christ

·         The Eucharist commits us to the poor

·         The Holy Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sin

·         The Holy Eucharist wipes away venial sins

SIGNS THAT GIVE GRACES: THE SACRAMENTALS

Sacramentals are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intersession of the church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasion in life are rendered Holy. (CCC 1667).     

In addition, according to the Council of Trent, sacramentals are material objects, things or actions (sacramentalia) set apart or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Churches, and Old Catholic Churches to manifest the respect due to the Sacraments, and so to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin, (Session XXII, 15).[i] Sacramentals consist of material things or of actions that the Church uses after the manner of Sacraments, so as to achieve though the merits of the faithful certain effects, primarily of a spiritual nature.[ii] They should not be misconstrued with the sacraments; they are different just as its definition tells us. While the sacraments confer graces ex opere operato, i.e. by the virtue of the action performed, the sacramentals confer graces ex opere operantiis, i.e. by the virtue of the person performing the action. While the sacraments are directly instituted by Christ, the sacramentals are instituted by the Church. There are two main categories of sacramentals namely; permanent sacramentals (blessed objects) and transitory sacramentals (actions which have a sacred significance when performed, i.e., ceremonies, independent religious actions and the religious use of blessed objects).[iii] Sacramentals may also refer to times, places, and gestures.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SACARMENTALS

·         Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life and the use of many things helpful to man.

·         Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a blessing and to bless.

·         Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way the sacraments do but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. 

THE ABUSE AND CRITICISMS OF SACRAMENTAL

Intriguingly, faced with the challenges of the 21^st century, the usage of sacramentals is tainted with irreligiousity and fashion-craziness. You will now see entertainer on TV screen wearing sacramentals not as what they are but as fashion-style. You will see them with their regular big dog chains and affixed to it are religious medals. Since the 21^st century has become an extended studio, young men and women, even Catholics are now copycats, de-sacramentalizing and desecrating and vandalizing the sacramentals. The story draws nearer to Armageddon with hawkers and especially the Moslems hawking supposed sacramentals at every corner of the street, as if they are artifacts and objects of beauty. I do not think however that we (Catholics) can do anything about this but we can do something about the disposition of those abusing them. We can do this by first having a change of heart; by showing a deep and rich appreciation of the sacramentals in the way we carry and use them. This is why Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (No. 31) argues that; beholding the fact that negative influences of secularism, technology, science, and materialism continue to threaten the very existence of mankind, the time has come to rediscover the full practical significance of the Church's "universal call to holiness." The Holy Father asks, in Novo Millennio Ineunte "Can holiness ever be 'planned'? What might the word 'holiness' mean in the context of a pastoral plan"? Paul Kokoski, a renowned theologian responded that

In fact, the Catholic Church already provides the faithful with a wealth of ways to grow in holiness. Unfortunately, however, these treasures, sometimes called sacramentals, have been forgotten or even dismissed in recent years.

CATHOLICS AND YOUR UNIQUE WAY OF WORSHIP: A WRAPPING-UP NOTE

Catholics! Catholics!! Catholics!!! Your ways are different from ours, show us the light!

They say our ways are different from theirs and our belief quite dissimilar to theirs, we must be proud in what we belief in. If not for anything, believe because the Catholic Church is the church founded by Jesus Christ- the one true church of God. We have the fullness of salvation, the fullness of faith and it is to us that Jesus has revealed the truths of the Kingdom.

As members of St John the evangelist society, you must imitate your patron saint who is a theologian per excellence of the Holy Eucharist. You too must be advocates of the Eucharist- knights of our Eucharistic King. You must teach others about the prisoner of love who resides in the tabernacle always waiting for us to visit. You must also teach others about the meaning and use of sacramentals. You must teach all these by examples.    

Finally, the Eucharist is a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet, a pledge of the life to come, the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:9), And so, during Mass, the priest invites us to Holy Communion with the words “This is the Lamb of God; happy are those who are called to his supper”. Christ gives us His own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist: first, to be offered as a sacrifice commemorating and renewing for all time the sacrifice of the cross; second, to be received by the faithful in Holy Communion; third, to remain ever on our altars as the proof of His love for us, and to be worshipped by us. (Baltimore Catechism, Lesson 26).

Lecture delivered by Ibiyemi Victor on the 10^th of June, 2012.

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[i] Thomas O'Brian, An Advanced Catechism Of Catholic Faith And Practice (Michigan: Kessinger Publishers, 2005), p. 151

[ii] Russell Shaw (ed.), Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopaedia of Catholic Doctrine (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 1997), p. 593

[iii] E. Caparros, M. Theriault and J. Thorn (eds.), Code of Canon Law (Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur Limited, 1993), p. 732

A laconic presenation on some Marian Facts.

ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS ON MARY

                                                                                                               IBIYEMI VICTOR

INTRODUCTION

The debate on Mary’s role and importance in the Church has been an enduring issue in Christendom. It has been a tug of war between Catholics and other denominations on their arguments as to the status of Mary in the salvation history. However, the Catholics, strong in unity have asserted their unwavering and unflinching allegiance to Mary as the Mother of God. The purpose of this essay therefore is to showcase under different sections the reasons for giving Mary such honour in the Catholic Tradition of faith.

WHY WE HONOUR HER

Among the various characteristics which prove the Catholic Church to be one true Church of Christ (the four marks of the Church- One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic), there is also a particular characteristic which is manifest based on the Holy Scripture and which is unique to Catholicism- the honour and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.

This honour and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary the mother of Jesus Christ is one of the many things rejected by the Protestants. Their claim is that the honour and devotion given to Mary is not in the scripture and as such it is an offence to Jesus. They furthered their argument that the Catholics are wrong praying to Mary because there is only one mediator between God and Man- which is Jesus.

To begin our defense on why we honour Mary, it is good to put to mind the consideration of the similarities between the Fall of man and the Redemption of man. After the fall of Adam and Eve which marked the fall of man. “And the Lord God said to the serpent… I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed, she shall crush your head, and thou shall lie in with for her heel” (Gen: 3: 13-15). The question is: who is the woman and who is the seed of which the bible speaks?  

In the Gospel of Luke, God did something fabulous that has never been done in the history of Israel. God sent his Angel to a virgin to deliver the message of the Incarnation of God. The point is how did the Angel greet Mary- the lowly virgin? “Hail Mary Full of Grace… the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. (Lk. 1: 28) The angel who was sent by God honoured her. We must remember that angels don’t convey their message, they convey the message of he who sent them (that is why they are called angels), who are you therefore not to honour whom God honored?

Furthermore, when Mary went to visit Elizabeth, Elizabeth prophesied under the influence of the Holy Spirit of the worth of Mary, she said: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of the womb. And whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to visit me? (Lk.1:43) Mary also under the influence of the Holy Spirit sang her magnificant and prophesied too that: “from now on, all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk. 1:48). Any generation that does not call Mary blessed is a cursed generation!

Form the above and from many unmentioned scriptural passages, it is evident why we honour Mary. We do not worship Mary; we are only giving her what is due just has God himself had honoured her.   

MARY AS THEOTOKOS

Theotokos is a Greek title of Mary, which depicts Mary as the Mother of Jesus. Theotokos is a compound of two Greek words Theo, God, tokos, bearer. Literally, this translates as God-bearer or the one who gives birth to God. Jaroslav Pelikan- a historian translated it more precisely as “the one who gives birth to the one who is God”. Understanding this etymology prepares the way for the explanation of the mystery of the Motherhood of Mary.

The Mystery is this: How can a creature be the mother of her Creator? The puzzle of some Christians, those who refuses the divine motherhood of Mary, is in the fact that it is literally impossible for Mary to be the Mother of God, because, they believe God is the cause of all with neither origin nor source and is therefore without father and mother, or any relation expect for what is homoousian to Him (that is what is in Substance to Him).

On the contrary, most Christians believe God the Son is begotten of God the Father, “from all eternity” but is born “in time” of Mary. Theotokos thus refer to the incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible through the fiat of Mary. 

The Council of Ephesus in 431AD decreed in opposition to those that denied Mary the title of Theotokos (the one who gives birth to God) and called her Christotokos (the one who gives birth to Christ) that Mary is Theotokos because her Son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. Within the economy of salvation Mary’s identity, role and status as the mother of God is acknowledged as indispensable and is for this reason formally defined as official dogma.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the controversial facts about our Lady which most non-Catholics have anchored on in their critique of the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception teaches that Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. This dogma states “that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privileged granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin. She therefore needed no baptism which is given to cleanse us from original sin which we inherited from our first parents- ADAM and EVE.

Notice that the doctrine of Immaculate Conception of Mary was formally proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 in Ineffabillis Deus. The defined dogma of the Immaculate Conception regards original sin only: the definition makes no declaration bout the Church’s belief that Blessed Virgin was sinless, in the sense of actual or personal sin. However, the Church also holds that Mary was also sinless personally, that she was “free from all sin, original or personal” and that is why she was greeted as full of grace when God sent the Angel Gabriel to visit Mary with his tidings.

Mary’s Immaculate Conception should not be confused with Mary’s Virginal Conception. The Immaculate Conception is about the birth of Mary, while Mary’s Virginal Conception is about the birth of Jesus- that Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin and she remained a virgin. This confusion is a dogmatic heresy that many are guilty of even the media. So, we must be careful to understand this very carefully before explaining it. Mary was conceived by Joachim and Anne who were devout Jews but were born with original sin. But Mary was given the privileged by God to be free from Sin and as such she was full of grace worthy to bear the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The feast of Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8, nine months before the nativity of Mary.

ASSUMPTION OF MARY

The Assumption of Mary is regarded as the Principal feast of Mary; it is celebrated on the 15^th of August. This feast has a double object: 1) the happy departure of Mary form this life; 2) the assumption of her body into heaven. This feast teaches that Mary was assumed after death both body and soul was taken into heaven. The earliest records of this fact about her Lady was found in the apocryphal treatise De Obitu S. Dominae bearing the name of St. John which belongs to the 4^th – 5^th Century. The fact is recounted by St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the council of Chalcedon (451), made known o the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostle, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty, wherefrom the Apostle concluded that the body was taken up to heaven. Hence, the Roman Catholic Church teaches as Dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution, Muniicentissimus Deus.

In his August 15, 2004, homily given at Lourdes, Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 as one of the scriptural bases for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.” According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ’s promise.

Another fact to buttress the doctrine of Assumption is to stress the privilege of Mary being the Mother of God. Since Jesus shared in Mary’s corporeal composition and Jesus when he died did not experience corruption. It is only granted by the grace of God, the Mother of God who was sinless would not experience any form of corruption because sin brings corruption and the wages of sin is death. (Gal. 6: 8-9).  

APPARITIONS OF MARY

Mary as continued to strengthen the faith of Christians through her appearances and miracles. A Marian apparition is an event in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have supernaturally appeared to one or more people. They are often given names based on the towns in which they were reported, or on the sobriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition.

In some apparitions such as Our Lady Lourdes or Our Lady of Fatima an actual vision is reported, fully resembling that of a person being present. In some of these reports the viewers (most times children do not initially report that they saw the Virgin Mary, but that they saw “a lady” (often but not always dressed in white) and had a conversation with her. In these cases the viewers report experiences that resemble the visual and verbal interaction with a person present at the site of the apparition.       

According to the Catholic Doctrine, the era of public revelation ended with the death of the last living apostle. Therefore, a Marian apparition, if deemed genuine by Church authority is regarded as a private revelation that may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose, but it can never add anything new to the deposit of faith. Meanwhile, the Holy See has officially confirmed the apparitions at Guadalupe, Saint-Etienne-le-Laus, Paris (Rue d Bac, Miraculous Medal), La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, Portugal, Pontmain, Beauraing and Banneux.    Apparitions of Mary are held to be evidence of her continuing active presence in the life of the church, through which she “cares for the brethren of her son who still journey on earth”.

Of all Marian apparitions, the best known are Lourdes and Fatima. Over sixty spontaneous healing, out of thousands reported at the Lourdes Spring, have been classified as “inexplicable” by the physicians of the Lourdes Bureau. The Three Secrets of Fatima received a great deal of attention in the Catholic Church and Secular press. 

LITANY OF BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?

The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Marian litany originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus. It is also known as the litany of Loreto, for its first- known place of origin, the Shrine of our Lady of Loreto (Italy) where its usage was recorded as early as 1558. The litany contains many titles used formally and informally for the Virgin Mary and would often be recited as a call and response chant in a group setting.

About its origin, despite the fact that, from the seventeenth century onwards, the litany of Loreto has been the subject of endless panegyrics and ascetical writings, there is a great lack of documentary evidence concerning its origin, the growth and development of the litany into the forms under which we know it, and as it was for the first time definitely approved by the catholic church in the year 1587. Some writers declare that they know nothing of its origin and history: others, on the contrary, trace it back to the translation of the Holy House (1294); others, to Pope Sergius 1 (687); others, again, to Gregory the Great or to the fifth century; while others go as far back as the earliest ages of the Church, and even Apostolic times. However, historical criticism posits it to have been composed during the early years of the 16^th century or the closing years of the 15^th. During the years, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary has taken some additions to the original Loreto’s text.

The Litany is majorly structured into six parts:

1.      Mary’s Holiness

2.      Mary the Mother

3.      Mary the Virgin

4.      Symbols of Mary

5.      Mary the Helper

6.      Mary the Queen

The litany portrays such immeasurable gifts and virtues bestowed on Mary by God; as such she becomes the mother of virtues truly full of grace. Reflection on the titles of the litany will unfold before us the grand picture of our heavenly mother, even though we know only little about her life. We will also come to see why Mary’s example, guidance and help is the need of the hour.  When praying the Litany, we have to meditatively say those laudable attributes of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We must not only say, we must emulate her in these virtues.  

CONCLUSION

Mary’s role in the economy of salvation is undisputable. For those who have not come in terms with that fact are ignorant of the promises of God towards this Woman of Virtues.  She is the new Eve that trampled down Satan. Her Son won salvation and redemption for us by his death. How could some persons say she is just an envelope that drops its message and then becomes redundant? That can never be the tale of the wonders God worked for the whole universe in Mary. Her singular and total participation in the project of salvation is why we honour her and that is why she has been more favoured among all women. Any Generation that does not call her blessed must be an evil generation because the scriptures prophesied that all generations will call her blessed. Let us continue to sing the praises of Mary in the magnificent and in the Litany.

There is woman I love so much………………….her name is Mary.   

CELIBACY AND THE QUESTION OF ITS ORIGIN

IBIYEMI VICTOR

The obligation, necessity and authenticity of celibacy in modern dispensations have aroused suspicious questions as to the origin of celibacy. These wary quests emerge because our modern world gives room for questioning the normally-unquestioned in the life of man and also in the practice of the church. Although that was the fruit produced following the aftermath of renaissance; a fruit that has its atheistic proclivities.

The question put succinctly: can the origin of celibacy be traced to Man or God? This question has placed celibacy-talks amongst the topmost issues in the society and especially in Catholicism. Many have furthered the cause of the removal of celibacy from priestly obligations; some others have attacked this ejection as a debasement of the essence of priesthood arguing therefore the celibacy stands at the center of Catholic Priesthood. For those who have supported its removal, celibacy is nothing but a mere law but for the other side of the divide, celibacy has divine inclinations.  

Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which, in some Churches, only unmarried men are, as a rule, to be ordained to the priesthood. The same discipline holds in some other Churches for ordination only to the episcopate. In this context, “celibacy” retains its original meaning of “unmarried”. Though even the married may observe continence, abstaining from sexual intercourse, the obligation to be celibate is seen as a consequence of the obligation to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Advocates see clerical celibacy as “a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbor.” (Canon 277)

Historically, while scripture does not address celibacy of priests directly, it was clearly not in practice in the earliest years of the church; I Timothy 3:2 includes among the qualifications for those seeking the office of bishop: “The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife…” (I Timothy 3:2). This means that celibacy has not been the practice of the church from her earliest traditions. However, it came into picture around the fourth century, when the church saw that this practice was needed in the pastoral and spiritual life of the church. The earliest textual evidence of the forbidding of marriage to clerics and the duty of those already married to abstain from sexual contact with their wives is in the fourth-century decrees of the Council of Elvira (305) and the later Council of Carthage (390). In these decrees, ministers were advised not to marry, to remain single and chaste.

Scripturally, Pope Benedict XVI in his book Salt of the Earth saw this practice as based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:12: “Some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” This scriptural injunction from the Lord himself became a foundation for keeping the law of celibacy for the kingdom of God.

In an exemplary fashion, Paul within a context of having “no command from the Lord” (1 Cor 7:25), recommends celibacy, but acknowledges that it is not God’s gift to all within the church: “For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am ... I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord - how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world - how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world - how she may please her husband. And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.” 1 Corinthians 7:7–8, 7:32–35. Paul took both spiritual and pastoral dimensions to validate the need of celibacy.

Theologically, the Church teaches that priesthood is a ministry conformed to the life and work of Jesus Christ. Priests as sacramental ministers act in persona Christi, that is, in the person of Christ. Thus the life of the priest conforms to the chastity of Christ himself. The sacrifice of married life for the “sake of the Kingdom" (Luke 18:28–30, Matthew 19:27–30; Mark 10:20–21), and to follow the example of Jesus Christ in being “married” to the Church, viewed by Catholicism and many Christian traditions as the “Bride of Christ”.

CONCLUSION

It is clear from the above that celibacy has both origins. Even though it was later legislated by the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it has been a scriptural cum spiritual practice that Jesus recommended and St. Paul later confirmed it as a virtuous practice befitting those who can sacrifice their entire life to God. Therefore, concerning the origins of celibacy, it can be reconstructed as a practice that began officially in the fourth century, however, it has been a recommended practice for the would-be followers of Jesus who are ready to devout their entire being to serving God and doing his will.  

The Holy See has officially re-affirmed the discipline of clerical celibacy in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis stated that the “unchanging”essence of ordination “configures the priest to Jesus Christ the Head and Spouse of the Church.” Thus, he said, “The Church, as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse loved her.”

HOLY WEEK: THE JOURNEY FROM JERUSALEM TO CALVARY

THE THEOLOGY OF HOLY WEEK IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION

The Paschal Mystery of Christ as been described by the fathers of the Vatican II as the culmen at fons of the Christian faith. The holy week is a microcosm the reenactment of the paschal mystery of Christ. Hence, the Holy week celebrations are the windows through which Christ manifested in its terminal apogee his vocation on earth. This explains why the celebrations of the Holy week are specially designed and aptly liturgically manifesting the importance and the significance of the different days that collaborate to put to fore the last days of Jesus on earth. Its importance has been more established in the various documents, encyclicals of the church reiterating the need for active participation and devotion to every liturgical gathering of the week together with all the distinct liturgical celebration which serve the purpose of anamnesis and epiclesis for and on the faithful. The Holy week thus has been characterized as a journey from Jerusalem to Golgotha depicted from the triumphant entry to the cross of crucifixion. It was indeed a summary of the Christian faith. Christ remains the centre of the Holy week as he has been all through the liturgical year; however, he occupies the central stage at this critical point with acute alacrity. This week is therefore coloured with some kind of theological readiness and willingness to accept the fate allotted to the suffering servant of Yahweh as Isaiah had proclaimed in the prophecy. Christ is therefore attached to all the celebrations and comments of the scripture and he is seen at every scene doing the will of God even to the point of death. Without the Holy week it would not be wrong to affirm that there would be no Christian Faith. This is so because the Christian faith magnificently celebrated today was a product of the agonizing fate the messiah of the world has to bear. The Hand of God has beautifully prepared this week long festivity for Christ as a culmination of his physical life and as a beginning to our own eternal life. It is the terminus of death and the prolegomenon to life everlasting. It is therefore apt that for any derivation of plenitudes of grace, an individual must commit himself actively and intrinsically into the activities of this peculiar period or else the redemptive graces of the season may be suspended till further notice. A better way to showcase this is to delve into the week chronologically. A substantial immersion into the waters of the Holy week is bathing in the life of Christ who is the fountain of life. The week presents a diurnally experience of Jesus, knowing him more and loving him more. It is essentially a personal search for the identity of Jesus.          

PALM SUNDAY: THE PARADOX OF HISTORY

On the first day of the week, Jesus sets his face and feet to Jerusalem the Holy City. Jesus ascent into Jerusalem is fashioned form a primary goal. There was a festival and as an ardent Jewish adult, Jesus hurries to attend the festival- a festival that would later be the sacrifice of himself as the victim and also the priest. The preparation of Jesus towards the Passover indicated the important of worship to him. Meanwhile, a crowd followed Jesus ad his disciples, they had been expecting him and asking if he would attend the festival. But what is the major concern of the people asking whether Jesus will come? They wanted him to declare himself chiefly if he was the messiah. Jesus has been manifesting a lot of miracles and signs. He was going around doing good. (Acts 10:38). For the people of Israel, Jerusalem would be the best place and more so, the festival will be the best forum for such messianic declaration which will obviously be a political coup d'état against the Romans which they had longed for. If he refused the proclamation of himself as the messiah, he may never come then, they thought. On the other side of this expectancy is the band and brood of vipers, the Pharisees who are waiting anxiously and furiously for him to attend the last festival as a human being because he would not miss this chance like the many he had dogged and slipped when they tried to kill him.

However, with these tensions on both sides of expectancy for the advent of Jesus, the reality that played itself in the scene was a triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. The entry was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zachariah. They were shouting Hosanna in the Highest; the original interpretation of Hosanna refers to an urgent supplication like “come to our aid”. Hence, this supplication corresponds to the anticipation of the Israelites of a messiah that will liberate Israel; from the hands of their “oppressors.” This messianic tone filled the whole temple with lauds and joy and the king rode on a young donkey, this again was a symbolism of the humility o the Lamb of God. He rode on a donkey that has never been ridden; this was a mark of his purity. He is given birth to from the ingenuity of a pure virgin.           

THE OTHER DAYS: JESUS THE DIPLOMAT

The days after the Passion Sunday were the hidden days of the Lord, though he taught in the temple corners, the Pharisees and scribes sought to kill him but he would always escape them by fleeing, slipping from them and by disappearance because his time had not come. During these trying days, the Lord Jesus was teaching his disciples about his death and resurrection but the disciples would not understand him. They would only understand him when he had risen from the dead. The conclusion of it all is the unbelief of the Jews. It was as if the seemingly messiah has failed in their expectation; hence they lost faith in him and disbelief his teachings even though he accompanied them with signs and wonders. However, the Gospel of John depicted this unbelief in accordance to the prophecy of Isaiah that “he has blinded their eyes, he has hardened their hearts” (Is. 6:10) 

After the welcome of Jesus through the triumphant salutation and reception, Jesus entered the temple and saw the profane activities of the people of Israel especially as regards the commercial enthronement of economist and marketers making the temple into a busy market. Because of the devotion that burns in the heart of Jesus, he cleansed the temple by flogging out and turning their goods and money on the ground. Again, he did this to emphasize the actions that are befitting to the house of God. It should not be a den of robbers but a house of prayer. The week continues with the preaching of Jesus especially about his exit from the world and the preparation for that cruel act of the leading figures of the society. As the days unfold, core mysteries began to emerge especially in the Triduum which marked the pinnacle of the Holy Week mysteries.

HOLY THURSDAY: THE TWIN INSTITUTION

Two major inaugurations took place on Holy Thursday that is worth remembering all the time; the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Passover meal of our Lord and the institution of the priesthood of Christ. The institution of the Eucharist necessitated the installation of the priesthood of Christ. The last supper is the Passover of the Lamb of God that indicated that the hour has come for Jesus to be delivered from the world. In other words, Jesus was celebrating his anticipated departure with his disciples already at the event of the last supper. However, during the Lord’s Supper, Jesus wanted to leave them an example they must follow, what is this example? While they were at supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This was a significant manifestation of a bundle of virtues. Nevertheless, what Jesus wanted to point out in deed was the reality and virtue of service. Hence, all the disciples must be servants to others in bringing the word of God to others. Even at the refusal of the impetuous Peter, the Lord explained in detail the need for washing the feet of his disciples. This became a major point of call in the whole scene of the Passover. It was indeed another of those impossible parables of Jesus. “The master washing the feet of his servant” is unbearable to the Jewish ears. Just like ears too, it sound twinkling and awkward at the same time. But that is the example he has left us to follow, that is the Christian visa to heaven.

After the manifestation of this great sacrament of service, the devil entered the man who is to betray Jesus. Altogether again, Jesus began his farewell discourses. In this discourses, the Lord taught them that he is the true vine and we are the branches. He characterized the future relationship that should exist between his disciples and the world and he promised the Holy Spirit. This began his priestly prayer for his disciples. He prayed for unity, for love and harmony among them also for endurance and perseverance. But suddenly he disappeared!           

GOOD FRIDAY: THE DEVIL ON THE BACK OF JESUS

But why the cross? It is hard to dance with the devil on one’s back. Jesus fate to suffer death is never a trivial task that should be forgotten by any at all circumstances. The most dreaded of all Fridays was the day the Lord was tortured, carried his cross and eventually died for the fulfillment of the will of God which was to drink of the sorrowful cup. The trial of Jesus was such a controversy and the judgment passed as well was in fact providential. Though tried for blasphemy, he was not guilty because HE IS WHO HE IS. The prize of redemption was a plenitude of grace for humanity. Series of event line in queue on the discourse of the cross but essentially, Jesus underwent death to give us life, he underwent the cross to give us the crown. He improvised himself to make us rich. For God, the perfect way of redemption must come from the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to magnificently express the quantum ergonomic salvation that was won for us. What more can we say about the cross that to accept all the crosses we have been called to carry in our own lives.        

HOLY SATURDAY: THE HOLIEST OF ALL NIGHTS

A sadden still silence shadows the whole universe. The author of life has been killed, what an irony! The weeping eyes can no longer weep for air has stand still. We are all suffocating in trepidation and horror. He is in the grave doing what? Is our hope, a bunch of hopelessness? There is a total enigmatic dilemma for the disciples. Maybe he is not the Lord after all, some said. For he said he will rise again, that he is the life and that anyone who comes to him will never die, but he is dead himself, is that not a shameful faith that we have entrusted in his teachings and miracles? There was great silence and confusion in the land, the confusion abounded because people would not talk to each other so they could not even share their hopelessness and unbelief. They all waited anticipatorily for the next minute to watch the drama that would happen again for the king of glory has been crucified. It is another search altogether for a new messiah and seeker. 

In the midst of this gloomy misery and wretchedness, some still looked upon the darkness for an emergence of a shining light.     

WILL HE REMAIN IN THE GRAVE?  

How will the Lord of life remain forever in the grave? He arose on the third day; the Lord of life arose from the dead and stayed beside his tomb for the beautiful morning when the first eye will see him. Came running Mary Magdalene in the early hours of Sunday morning, though with a faithless of coming to anoint the Lord and to probably shed the last drain and rolls of tears met a different story all together at the graveside. Her Lord has been stolen. In the attempt to find the thief and restore the stolen body, the Lord himself manifested and she believed. But the message was quite to joyous and heavy in the ears, she begged to let the mouth do its work of proclaiming the goodness that the Lord has risen from the dead.

THE THEOLOGY OF HOLY WEEK AND MODERN CHRISTIANS

It is apt to therefore conclude with a message for modern Christians that the events of the Holy Week are the sagas of our faith. But it does not just end with the narration of a happy ending as it is in fairy tales and some fables. This is a story of faith coloured with divine historiography and providential economy that goaled into the salvation mandate of the Blessed Trinity. It is thence the celebration of the life of Jesus and we cannot be Christians until we immerse ourselves into this celebration to be incorporated with Christ. Unless we unite ourselves with the vine, we will forever remain a broken branch of the divine vine.