Prophecy and reality

On the eve of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC 2012), held in June 6th to 9th at Saint Patrick’s College in Dublin, a theological Symposium on the Ecclesiology of Communion 50 years after the Vatican Council. 320 theologians coming from all over the world will attend the Congress. About the Symposium, Maria Chiara Biagioni interviewed for SIR Europe, Msgr. Piero Coda, the Italian theologian, dean of the Sophia University Institute and one of the speakers at the Congress.If Communion is the prophecy, today the Church clashes with a tarnished image of herself from completely different news. Where does reality come into play? "The truth is that the Church must not be simply identified with the institutions which represent her. The Church is God ‘s Peoples who walk through history, the sharing of the Christian experience achieved throughout the world where two or more people gather under the name of Christ in the great concert of the universal Church. As always, still today this reality of a simple Church, close to people and specifically the poor and the last, is an extraordinary and enlightened presence which is however poorly visible to public opinion. Clearly, the Church is blended by the human element, temptations and risks typical of our historical condition, therefore one mustn’t be too concerned about difficulties and attacks to the incarnation of God’s great project of love, today in the Council’s prophecy. Certainly all difficulties encountered and experienced failures, are a clear invitation to conversion, humble life and finding always more transparent and clear ways to express this wonderful gift of the Church communion. We must not put our heads in the sand on constraints, mistakes and sins: we must ask for God’s forgiveness and start off with a renewed energy and hope and the will to turn the Church’s life in her dynamisms, structures and decisions into always more consistent actions with the Gospel of Jesus". What role does the Eucharistic play?"The Eucharistic is core because it is not simply the model of Jesus giving himself to us to unite us to God and among others. It is the effective transmission of life itself: by receiving Him, as in the words of Benedict XVI in "Deus Caritas Est" we are included in Jesus giving himself for us. By receiving the Eucharist we are invested with the Love of the Trinity which is poured into our hearts, and are thus enabled to turn our life into a gratuitousness and responsible act of dedication. The Eucharist is thus the source and measurement of unlimited love we are called on to live concretely in our everyday life. Without the Eucharist the Church communion would be just an illusion. A living Eucharistic, or better living through Jesus in the Eucharist, is what makes each one of us individually and as a community capable of building communion bridges among ourselves and others". Yet the Eucharist is a hurdle in the building of bridges with those who are closer to us. Is it a hurdle for full communion among Christians?"The Eucharist is not merely the source of full communion in Christ. It is also the effective and visible sign of this communion. I think we take a shortcut when we do not place the adequate weight on the Eucharist, because it means overriding the meaning and value of a life where we fully find ourselves in what Jesus has donated us. Jesus, donated himself to us, in his death and resurrection, giving us the gift -Dietrich Bonhoeffe would say – that cost him dearly. We ourselves are called to drink from the same chalice. If we still do not fully acknowledge ourselves as members of his unique body, this means we cannot receive the sacrament that makes us one. It is a suffering to undertake, a strong invitation to convert, to put aside all that is not core and derived only from our perspective and find what really comes from God and truly unites us". The Church communion is a prophecy. The goal of Christian unity comes at a high price. Does the Church risk immobilism’?"I do not think so. Prophecy is something extremely dynamic, it warms the heart, provides a vision and gives use the energy to walk steadily. If the prophecy were to leave us at the starting point, it wouldn’t be a prophecy. Then, what comes at a dear price and keeps alive in front of our heart’s eyes is that all is given to us as a gift of love from God in Christ and life itself, and cannot be absolutely wasted. You cannot achieve high mountain heights standing at its feet, but by walking, toiling, hiking together".What can the Eucharistic say to a world that today has lost the meaning of God?"It would be better to ask what do Christians who have been transformed by the Eucharist have to say. We need simple and disarming Christian testimonies. Our times are signed by suspect. We need high consistency, clear testimony, true openness towards the Spirit, strength in the love and trust in God’s ability to restore hope and the fascination of the Christian succession. The Eucharist is the free and abundant source of all this".