Corpus Christi – Reflections in a Vincentian Context

by | Jun 17, 2017 | Eastern Province, Formation

Corpus Christi – Former Superior General Robert Maloney offers reflections on the Eucharist Today –  Reflections in a Vincentian Context.( Article first appeared on FamVin)
He echoes St. John Chrysostom who focuses on the relationship between the Eucharist and the poor with challenging words:

Do you wish to honor Christ’s body? Then do not look down upon him when you notice him naked among the poor; nor should you honor him here, in the temple, with fancy offerings, if when you leave you abandon him to his coldness and nakedness. Because the same One who said, “This is my body,” and with his word made manifest everything that he said, also affirmed: “I was hungry, and you did not feed me,” and later, “whatever you failed to do for one of these little ones, you failed to do for me.”

“Vincent saw the Eucharist as the source of effective evangelization. In other words, the Eucharist, in his mind, is connected with life and mission. It is the fountain of the missionary energy and of the missionary virtues that his followers are to bring to the service of the poor.
In this era when the Church focuses in a renewed way on its preferential option for the poor, the Eucharist should renew our bonds with the poor of our own community as well as with those in distant lands. Paul, having been sent out on mission by the Council of Jerusalem to preach to the Gentiles, states: “The only stipulation was that we should be mindful of the poor — the one thing that I was making every effort to do.”
 
Some Reflections, in a Vincentian Context, on the Eucharist Today

These reflections were precede by sections devoted to

  • The Eucharist in the life and writings of St. Vincent
  • Some horizon shifts between the 17th and 20th centuries

“The Eucharist in the Vincentian Tradition – Love is Creative unto Infinity” .