PAVILION, CEBU CITY, Jan. 27, 2016 – "The Eucharist is intimately linked with the responsible care for the earth, our common home."
This is the heart of the speech of the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Cardinal-priest of San Liborio Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson read to the assembly by Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, S.J. on the fourth day of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress at the Pavilion, Cebu City, Philippines.
According to the Cardinal, considerations for the Eucharist and Ecology starts from believing in the biblical God of the covenant, the God of creation and the God of redemption.
“When the priest takes the bread and wine and places it on the altar at Mass he says: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands it will become for us the bread of life… fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink,” explained the Cardinal.
Redemption is found in Jesus Christ, who saved not only humankind from sin but also redeemed the earth from impending “ecological disaster”.
Cardinal Peter explained, “Christ’s act of obedience as the new Adam led to his death and resurrection. By redeeming us with his own blood, in effect, Christ took the fear and pain out of suffering and death and by accepting suffering and death led us to a new kind of life in and through the resurrection.”
Redeeming humankind leads to the creation of a community tasked to take care of God’s creation.
“Each community can take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence. But it also has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations. This is part of the theology that underlies our working with fellow creatures to manufacture bread and wine for the Eucharist,” said Cardinal Peter.
He added: “Simply put, what lies behind the manufacture of the bread and wine for the Eucharist is that they are paschal processes. There is a dying and rising in planting, harvesting, baking or fermenting – all of which comprise the foundation for the celebration of the Paschal mystery in the Eucharist and for our participation in the dying and rising of Christ in and through the Eucharist.”
Cardinal Peter clarified that food distribution and just working conditions for all, especially the poor, find their way into the Eucharist, more particularly, in the offertory.
“The taking and collecting of gifts for the Eucharist always implies the sharing of some of those gifts with the poor and needy. The symbolism of the deacon as one who ministers both at the altar and to the poor outside the liturgy personifies and exemplifies this ritual. To share one’s talents and offerings at the Eucharist reflects one’s talents and generosity to others outside the celebration of the Eucharist.”
“Every time we take bread and wine in the act of doing the Eucharist we articulate the theology of the goodness of creation and our need for food to sustain us as the “pilgrim church on earth” until we are fed at the “Supper of the Lamb.”
Cardinal Peter challenged all Christians to authentically celebrate liturgy and responsibly care for creation.
“Part of the challenge which celebrating sacramental liturgy can offer is to help us reflect back on the world in which we live and to ponder our care for it as well as our concern for those who dwell on it. This means taking seriously our obligation of being in communion with and caregivers for our common home. We are never to presume that we are its masters or that we are its lords. We are fellow companions, responsible to succeeding generations for our care of and for it.”
