Embodied Words, Spoken Signs: Sacramentality and the Word in Rahner and Chauvet

Introduction

1 Introduction The twentieth century witnessed a profound shift in Roman Catholic sacramental thought and a growing interest in the sacramentality of the word. This resurgence of interest, while consistent with the Christian tradition as articulated by both Catholic and Protestant theologians, comes against the backdrop of several centuries in which Catholic sacramental thought revolved almost exclusively around the seven ritual sacraments. The renewed interest in the way in which the word functions both within and beyond these sacramental rituals has helped to deepen the Roman Catholic understanding of both the sacraments themselves in their liturgical context, and the overarching sacramentality of the world in which we live. Within the Christian tradition, an understanding of the sacramentality of the word—the conviction that words have the power to mediate the presence of God—often occurs in discussions of sacramental theology, theology of revelation, or the convergence of the two. Theologians have taken diverse approaches to understanding the sacramentality of the word of God. Some, such as Thomas Aquinas, have begun from the perspective of a theology of God’s revelation to humanity in history. Others, such as Augustine, have begun with the way that language functions and the manner in which humans receive knowledge from God and from one another through signs and sacraments. Still others, such as Reformation theologians Martin Luther and John Calvin, have begun from a concern that the word proclaimed in preaching and sacrament be recognized as an authentically scriptural word. In the mid-twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council’s interest in the sacred liturgy and in a theology of revelation marked a significant turning point for Roman Catholic theological work on the sacramentality of the word of God. The conciliar documents reflected the church’s growth during the years of the liturgical movement,1 as well as the increasing importance of a theology 1. For a helpful overview see John Fenwick and Bryan D. Spinks, Worship in Transition: The Liturgical Movement in the Twentieth Century (New York: Continuum, 1995), 23–36. 1 of revelation which contextualized God’s gift of revelation in the language of human reason and the modern world.2 The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy speaks of Christ’s presence located in the proclaimed word: “Christ is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.”3 Here we see the sacramentality of the word reflected in a liturgical context. The Constitution on Divine Revelation also uses sacramental language when speaking of the word of God. It affirms that it is from “the one table of the word of God and the body of Christ that the church receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life, especially in the sacred liturgy.”4 Here the image of the sacramental table reflects the grace present in both word and sacrament. Dei Verbum goes still further in speaking of God’s word recognized not only in the sacramental context, but also in human history and in creation.5 The significance of the presence of Christ in the proclaimed word, and the powerful image of the one table of word and Eucharist, reflect twentiethcentury approaches to a study of word and sacrament that result in a deeper understanding of the sacramentality of the word both in the liturgical context and in the context of a graced world. Twentieth-century Catholic theologians such as Karl Rahner and Louis-Marie Chauvet have each considered the theological relationship between word and sacrament and have, in distinct ways, proposed theologies of the word which reflect a sacramental understanding of the word. These proposals have not only deepened understanding of the Catholic theology of the word developing in the late twentieth- and early twenty-first centuries, but they have also illuminated the significance of a shifting doctrine of God, and a deeper understanding of sacramentality—the recognition of God’s grace present in the world in diverse ways. Numerous studies have fruitfully explored Rahner’s theology of revelation, symbol, word, and sacrament.6 More recent work has also been done 2. See Dei Filius, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner (Washington, DC: Sheed and Ward, 1990), 804–11; and Gerald A. McCool, Nineteenth-Century Scholasticism: The Search for a Unitary Method (New York: Fordham University Press, 1989). 3. Sacrosanctum Concilium, in The Basic Sixteen Documents: Vatican Council II Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations, ed. Austin Flannery (Northport, NY: Costello, 1963), 7. 4. Dei Verbum, in...