As I was surfing, looking for something to post (am I the only one who does this?), I ran across this GR post on the Pope's 130-page letter. Wow. It's hard to make heads or tails of it from media reports, but the super-sized letter itself isn't so opaque. It is technically an Apostolic Exhortation, which probably means something particular to informed Catholics. The subject of the letter is "the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Church's life and mission." It is directed "to the Bishops, clergy, consecrated persons, and the lay faithful." So it's not just to Catholic officials, it is (formally, at least) directed to Catholic laity. I'll offer one quote that caught my eye, calling the Eucharist (what Mormons call "the sacrament") "the food of truth."
Here is the first part of paragraph 2:
In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom. Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: "What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?" Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth.
Nice thoughts. I've never seen a discussion of the LDS sacrament that linked it to "our hunger for truth and freedom." If anyone spots any interesting points elsewhere in the letter (anyone with time to read 130 pages, for example), feel free to comment. I will note that there's a very nice guide at the head of the online version of the letter with handy hyperlinks to various topical sections. And that Vatican site must push a lot of bandwidth.
I appreciate this post, Dave. And the Vatican has more bandwidth than God, doncha know.
Posted by: Brad Haas | Mar 16, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Thanks. The food that fills our hunger for truth is a nice way of thinking of the sacrament.
Posted by: Adam Greenwood | Mar 16, 2007 at 03:06 PM
Oh, and here's a nice definition of an apostolic exhortation. Sacramentum Caritatis in particular is "post-synodal," as it followed the bishops' synod (or council) concerning the Eucharist (discussed near the beginning of the letter). It expresses the council's thoughts and conclusions on the Eucharist, liturgy, etc., with Pope Benedict's personal touch as well.
Posted by: Brad Haas | Mar 16, 2007 at 06:46 PM
Those pesky Catholics sure know how to do Sacrament, don't they. Maybe we could learn something from them.
And, why didn't God give us a heads up about the internet?
Posted by: Duff | Mar 17, 2007 at 03:29 PM