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Living the
Eucharist in Asia
The following are
excerpts from the message delivered by Archbishop Robert Sarah,
Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, at the
Ninth Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (FABC)
on 11 August [2009].
Dear Brothers in Christ,
On behalf of His Eminence
Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization
of Peoples and on my own behalf, I warmly greet you.
In fraternal and ecclesial
communion, I am privileged to be here with you to personally express my
affection and appreciation, as well as to listen and share your concerns
and your hopes, your pastoral choices and solicitude for the People of
God entrusted to your pastoral care and missionary service.
The theme chosen for the
Ninth Plenary Assembly of the FABC, "Living the Eucharist in Asia",
opens our minds and hearts to the many dimensions of life and mission of
the Church in Asia, and I wish to reflect upon some of them together
with you.
The theme... reveals that
your heart deeply lives a sense of ecclesial communion with the entire
Church, sharing the same rhythm and walking at the same pace with her.
Indeed from the beginning of the Millennium, the path of the Church has
been profoundly marked by the Eucharist, Sacrament of God's love for
humanity.
Your presence here as
qualified representatives of the local Churches of the FABC in Asia
opens our minds and hearts to the immensity, in terms of territory and
population, where the Church is simply a little flock. In many countries
Catholics do not even reach a percentage of 1%. This situation recalls
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "I have other sheep that do not
belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my
voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd" (Jn 10:16), and "when
I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself" (Jn
12:32).
These words of Christ, when
confronted with the reality of the Church in Asia, must make the local
Churches feel their missionary call in a very active and real way, as
confirmed in the FABC documents. We can for instance recall the
Declaration of the I Plenary Assembly, where we read: "Today the
preaching of Jesus Christ and his Gospel to our people in Asia has
become an urgent task, more necessary and greater than ever in the
history of our faith in this part of the world.... We can say with joy
the words of the Apostle: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel',
because it is 'Christ's love which drives us' to share with our people
what is most precious in our hearts and in our lives: Jesus Christ and
his Gospel".1
This missionary
consciousness was very alive in the Bishops' interventions during the
Synod of Bishops for Asia, which were taken up again by the Servant of
God Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (EiA):
"As the Synod discussion of the complex realities of Asia unfolded,
it became increasingly obvious to all that the Church's unique
contribution to the peoples of the continent is the proclamation of
Jesus Christ, true God and true man, the one and only Saviour for all
peoples" (Propositio n. 5). What distinguishes the Church from
other religious communities is her faith in Jesus Christ; and she cannot
keep this precious light of faith under a bushel (cf. Mt 5:15), for her
mission is to share that light with everyone.
Many and complex are the
situations that the Church in Asia is called to face at this time, they
all appear to be grave and urgent, and each one of them requires total
and immediate attention, tending to monopolize the Church's commitment
and to close the horizons of the minds and hearts of the evangelizers.
In this perspective, a fundamental question could be asked regarding the
mission of the Church in Asia: Where do we begin and how do we deal with
these challenges, so that the presence and service of the Church may
truly be an authentic mission, showing the face of a loving God who is
revealed in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of humanity?
The answer to this
fundamental question can be found, I believe, precisely in the theme of
this Plenary Assembly that is by "Living the Eucharist".
The challenges facing the
Church in mission today are many but they could be re-grouped in a
triple challenge or triple "dialogue" as they say in Asia: the challenge
of the poor, the challenge of religions, and the challenge of cultures.2
Without reducing the importance of these challenges, however, in the
mission of the Church in Asia, I see above all the
challenge of God.
Given that the Church in
Asia is dealing with difficulties that seem insurmountable we can also
witness, with great joy and hope, the unmistakable signs of God's
presence which saves and gives life, overcoming any kind of obstacle of
any nature. Such signs are, for instance, the presence of many priests,
religious men and women and lay people involved with zeal and generosity
in God's service, the courage, or better the joy and fidelity of many
Christians to Christ and his Gospel, despite the seductions of the
modern world, the dangers and the humiliation endured for the sake of
the Gospel.
Among the many witnesses, I
would like to recall here the one given by a catechist from Asia: "We
are helping our dioceses by bringing them religious books, means and
objects necessary for the evangelization. Our work is very risky.... In
one of my travels, I escaped from danger twice. God closed the eyes of
the policemen so that they could not see the books. If they had
discovered them, I surely would have a heavy penalty.... Despite the
many difficulties we had to face during these travels, we also
experienced a little bit of the happiness experienced by the martyrs".3
Another witness in the
person of Mons. Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, more recently shared during the
last Synod of Bishops on the Word of God is the following: "One thing
must be cited so as to show that the word of God continues to sustain
the Catholic Church in Vietnam. I am referring to the mass conversion of
thousands of peoples belonging to ethnical minorities, shortly after the
canonization of the 117 Vietnam Martyrs in 1988. What is interesting is
that many admitted to have listened to the Protestant Radio in Manila,
in the Philippines, but they converted to the Catholic Church in
Vietnam. So the Protestants sow and the Catholics reap. The word of God,
reaching them from afar, has become a source of hope for these scattered
people in the mountains, lacking everything and without a future.4
These facts clearly witness
the presence of God. We can say that in Asia we can touch God with our
hands and see him with our eyes. God does not allow himself to be
influenced by the situations, the socio-political systems or the
barriers of borders, cultures and religions, God is present in the world
to save it and give it his life.
This does not mean, in any
way, to ignore the various grave problems but rather one must go to the
root of the mission, look at the situation from that perspective and act
accordingly. As a matter of fact, the true and deepest reason for the
Church's mission is not the problems of the world, but the heart of God
searching for humanity with its problems, in order to save it and offer
it his life, even if rejected by humanity. It was God who took the
initiative to offer his salvation to us (cf. Gen 3:14-15). Therefore,
the mission of the Church is above all an answer to God's desire, or in
modern terms, an answer to the challenge of God's Love.
But what expression of love
can be compared with that of the Eucharist? Every expression of love
touches the heart of the one who is attentive and sensitive. The total
love and radical gift of Christ in the Eucharist can break through the
doors of a double locked heart and hence the Eucharist possesses a
unique missionary strength. I would like to quote one more witness, from
Ranchi in India: "The local Church in the tribal territory in India,
which currently counts more than two million people, represents one of
the most remarkable success stories in the mission of the Catholic
Church. In just 130 years 12 dioceses were created from the Archdiocese
of Ranchi, 23 Bishops were ordained, many priests and thousands of
religious came from there. I believe this dynamic growth of the Church
was due to our particular devotion to the Eucharist that constitutes our
very 'identity'. Since the tribal people welcomed the Gospel, the 'real
presence' of the risen Lord in the Eucharist made them free, offered
them salvation and transformed them in a 'new creation' in Christ".5
The Eucharist is truly the
centre and the source of the Church's life and mission. The Church's
life should centre around the Mystery of the Eucharist both in the
liturgical celebration and Eucharistic Adoration. During the Synod of
Bishops on the Eucharist in 2005, many Asian Bishops strongly proposed,
at times insisting categorically to introduce perpetual Eucharistic
Adoration in their dioceses and some of them stated that there where
Eucharistic Adoration took place, greater reconciliation, peace and
communion were experienced. This is possible because Jesus is present in
the tabernacle as a magnetic pole "attracting an ever greater
number of souls enamoured of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his
voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart".6
In formulating the theme
"Living the Eucharist in Asia", putting a clear emphasis on the verb
"living", the Assembly should not only focus on theory, but should be
able to lead the faithful to fall in love with Christ in the Eucharist,
from whom one can draw strength and enthusiastic love for the world. In
this way the Church in Asia will be able to overcome the modern world's
temptation of excessive activism and emphasis on activity and
techniques, and at the same time will be able to live and nurture its
very culture. Asians usually look at religion with a very existential,
practical and experiential attitude. Before the Mystery, the Asian
mentality tries not only to know and to comprehend the Mystery but
mainly to stand in its presence, to experience the mystery and be
communicative with the mystery.
At the end of this brief
reflection, my wish is that from the common reflection, fraternal
meetings and time spent in Eucharistic Adoration or contemplation, this
assembly will be set in a blaze and awakened to Eucharistic awe and firm
faith like the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:30-35), in order to
inflame the hearts of the faithful of the Church in Asia with the fire
of love which comes from God, and the courage to break every barrier and
share with everyone the joy of their meeting with the Lord: "What was
from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life
—
for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and
proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made
visible to us
—
what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may
have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with
his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be
complete" (1 Jn 1:1-4).
Notes
1 FABC, Evangelization of Asia today, I
Plenary Assembly, Declaration, n. 8.
2 Ibid.,
nn. 9, 13, 19.
3 Jess S. Breña,
Lay Spirituality Today, Volunteer Lay Apostles Promotion and
Training Center, Kuangchi Press, Taiwan, 1990, pp. 154-155.
4 Mons. Joseph
Nguyen Chi Linh, Intervention in the Synod Hall, Bulletin of the Synod
of Bishops, 14 October 2008.
5 Card.
Telesphore Placidus Toppo, Intervention in the Synod Hall, Bulletin of
the Synod of Bishops, 4 October 2005.
6 Mane
nobiscum Domine, n. 18.
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