Posted by Phil on July 11, 19101 at 13:35:04:
In Reply to: Oh no, fireworks???? It's not the 4th of July yet! :) posted by Diana on June 29, 19101 at 15:02:09:
: Where we see the body of Christ is so important!
: Seeing the Body of Christ only in the Eucharist or the Pope is the paradigm that people follow when they want to centralize control. As I understand it, the early Church did not have this centralization. It was man made. It is a view that tries to make the hierarchy and the Eucharist the Sun, so to speak and everyone else satellites around it. It can be used to show a scarcity or lack of the Body of Christ and to show the world as a culture of death.
You're reacting to a straw man. Catholicism doesn't teach that the Body of Christ resides on in the Pope or in the Eucharist. And the early Church certainly did have recognized, authoritative leadership.
You keep confusing the Eucharist as Sacramental Body of Christ with the People as the Body of Christ. There is a connection, of course, and it is the same Christ. But the Sacrament is and always has been to nourish the members of the Body of Christ who are professed members of the Church, who have been properly formed in the faith, and who are in good standing with the Church in terms of their moral life. To require greater inclusion than this would dilute the meaning of the Sacrament, ultimately reducing it to an impotent sign of the simple fact of existence.
So, you've spoken your piece about all this, invited a friend to join you, voiced your liberal viewpoint, and gotten several responses. Perhaps an email list of some kind would be a better place to voice your convictions now.
Phil