Celebrating the Eucharist: Sacrifice and Communion. Proceedings of the Fifth Fota International Liturgical Conference, 2012 ed. by Gerard Deighan (review)

320 ANTIPHON 18.3 (2014) Gerard Deighan, Editor Celebrating the Eucharist: Sacrifice and Communion. Proceedings of the Fifth Fota International Liturgical Conference, 2012 Fota Liturgy Series, 5 Wells: Smenos Publications, 2014 270 pages. Hardbound. €20.00. This volume contains the papers delivered at the Fifth Fota International Liturgical Conference in Cork, Ireland in 2012. As the editor, Fr. Gerard Deighan, indicates in his preface, the conference aimed at presenting “a full and balanced understanding of the Eucharist” (7) as both sacrifice and communion. This is a timely and necessary contribution, because in the last half-century the understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice has diminished considerably not only in pastoral practice but also in theological reflection. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states that “[t]he Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s body and blood” (no. 1382). However, articulating the sacrificial character of the Eucharist is not a straightforward undertaking and less accessible to contemporary minds than the aspect of communion. Hence it is not surprising that most of the papers face the question of the Eucharistic sacrifice. By doing this from a variety of perspectives, the book takes a significant step towards redressing the balance between sacrifice and communion. The book opens with a study by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke on the Eucharist as a sacrifice in the canonical discipline of the Church, with special reference to the work of the noted canonist Pietro Gasbarri, principal editor of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Several papers explore the scriptural foundations of the Eucharist , in particular the biblical concepts of the sacrifice. Although the Jewish sacrificial system came to an end with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, its memory was sustained by its presence in the Sacred Scriptures and hence decisive for the early Christian theology of the Eucharist. Gerard Deighan provides a concise and lucid overview of sacrifice in the Old Testament as a background for understanding the sacrificial nature of the Last Supper and of the Mass. Robert Abyneiko analyses the fundamental contribution the Letter to the Hebrews makes 321 BOOK REVIEW to seeing the Eucharist as the action of Christ the Eternal High Priest. Klaus Berger explores liturgical themes in the Book of Revelation . The studies of Daniel Jones on Augustine of Hippo (drawing on the inexhaustible book ten of the City of God), of Patrick Gorevan on Thomas Aquinas and of Neil Xavier O’Donoghue on the idea of the Eucharistic sacrifice in pre-Norman Ireland open up historical perspectives on the question. The volume contains highly informative presentations of more recent theological reflection on the Eucharist: Michael Stickelbroeck on the eminent nineteenth-century German divine Matthias Joseph Scheeben, Joseph Murphy on the notable, but little known twentieth-century Italian theologian Divo Barsotti, and Thomas McGovern on the Eucharist in the Magisterium of St John Paul II. In a paper dedicated to Joseph Ratzinger’s theology of the liturgy, Mariusz Bliniewicz highlights the key role of the Apostle Paul’s concept of “reasonable worship” (logike latreia, Rom 12:1). Of particular interest is Manfred Hauke’s overview of the debate on the “basic structure” of the Eucharist, which had considerable impact on liturgical renewal in the last century. Finally, D. Vincent Twomey reflects on the importance of rubrics from the perspective of ritual studies (drawing especially on the work of Victor Turner) and on the basis of the liturgical theology of Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI. The multi-disciplinary character of this scholarly volume makes it a stimulating contribution to an ongoing theological conversation with significant practical implications and a valuable resource for further research. Last but not least, the publisher is to be commended for producing a high-quality book at a very reasonable price. Uwe Michael Lang Heythrop College University of London, UK ...