NOTES ON THE
EUCHARIST AND THE STRUGGLES FOR LIFE
Rev.
Jeric C. Cortado, March 2007
This paper articulates
the Biblical-Theological Reflections on the Eucharist as a concrete parable of
the actuality of the Kingdom of God; and an event that symbolizes Christian involvement in socio-political and
economic action.
WHAT DOES THE EUCHARIST MEAN?
We
come to the Eucharist out of our hunger to receive God’s gracious love, to
receive forgiveness and healing. The people who participate in the sacrament
are assured of the forgiveness of their sins and of pardon through their
participation in the invitation and the confession and Pardon. The Eucharist represents the ordinary life,
the reality of the world, and the possibility of an alternative community. It can be a means to express our unity in
Christ actually already exists as a gift from God in spite of our failure to
manifest it. It is a means to express our covenant leading us into justice,
truth and unity, and empowered to fulfill God’s mission in the world.
Eucharistic
celebrations are done under many different conditions that can affect the sense
of celebration. During the persecution
era, the Eucharist was offered in the catacombs of Rome, in the underground
Christian movement. But later, when the persecution ended and during the
Constantinian era, the Eucharist became the symbol of the Christian Church’s
victory. The Eucharist was celebrated at the high altar of the grand Roman
basilicas, and taken to the corners of the earth by the priests in cahoots with
colonial rulers. It has been exploited and used as means of enslavement and
domestication of believers, and has been modified to suit the needs of the
elite in the churches. These situations has forced the people to open their
mind to the realities, and at the peak of the reformation, the exploitative
spirit was challenged.
THE
SACRAMENTAL MEAL FELLOWSHIP
Jesus treated
this meal with extreme importance which provided the venue for his final
instructions. He invested certain
gestures with great meaning. This table-fellowship as narrated by the gospel of
Mark (chapter 14) gave deep meaning
to the life of the people in history and at present. Jesus exposed that among
his disciples partaking of the supper was one who was going to betray him. In
verse 18, “Jesus said, “I tell you that one
of you will betray me-one who is eating with me.” He exposed the spirit of
opportunism reigning in the heart of the disciples, who are ready to compromise
their cause for social change. The culture of deception and opportunism which
was obviously in their midst, and even the denial and abandonment of Jesus that
was yet to happen was mentioned at the meal. In verse 27 Jesus said to them, “All of you will run away and leave me….”
[sense of abandonment]. In verses 30-31,
Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows two time
tonight, you will say three times that
you do not know me.” [the denial of Peter and the other disciples].
In Jesus time,
the Jewish family meal was marked by thanksgiving at the beginning and the end.
“To begin the meal, the head of the
household held a piece of bread and said a prayer….The bread was then broken
into pieces and passed around to all participants. At the end of the meal was
another thanksgiving…..It included a thanksgiving for the rich heritage of the
land of Israel and the Law, in addition to a thanksgiving for the meal…”[1]
In the gospel of Mark it is said, “While they were eating. Jesus took a piece
of bread, gave a prayer of thanks….”
(v.22). “Then he took a cup, gave thanks
to God….” (v.23), and in verse 26, “…they
sang a hymn…”
Some of the
scholars affirmed that this meal was derived from a simple repast shared weekly
by small groups of Jews, very often by a rabbi and his disciples. Its purpose
was to prepare for the Sabbath or a festival, and it was religious in
character. It consisted of religious discussion followed by a simple meal of
common bread and wine mixed with water, the cup was being passed from one to
another, and prayers were offered. They associate this meal to the Kiddush,
which was commonly observed by the Messianic group.[2]
Table 1:
Comparative Study of the Meal
Passover Meal
|
Kiddush
|
Lord’s Supper
|
·
The Passover meal is strictly a
family festival
·
At the Passover meal the paschal
lamb was offered.
·
Unleavened bread was required at the
Passover meal.
·
Several cups were used.
·
There were passages narrating the
exodus from Egypt being read.
·
Observed yearly.
|
·
Always observed by a small group of
males
·
Ordinary leavened bread was always
used
·
There was only one cup.
·
Observed weekly.
·
Wine was mixed into the water.
|
·
Observed by Jesus as mentioned in
the Scriptures with his 12 male disciples.
·
This is missing in the Last Supper.
·
Ordinary bread was used as stated in
the narrative.
·
There was only one cup.
·
There is no mention of having this
at the Last Supper.
·
Celebrated frequently and soon
weekly.
·
Apart from the Armenian tradition,
mixing of wine and water is a universal practice in celebrating the
Eucharist.
|
According
to William D. Maxwell, the Eucharist was derived from the
Kiddush. The supper of Jesus in the
Upper Room was closely related to this. Kiddush, which means “sanctification”
is the prayer by which the sacredness of the Sabbath is proclaimed. Maybe it is
necessary to know this if we take a look at the frequency of the celebration,
and the elements being used. But that is not the reason to depart from the
Passover celebration of the Hebrew people, since the line or the ritual we use
are derived from their experiences and struggle.
Every
meal has a religious significance that should be observed with thanksgiving to
God. For the community, to be participants in the family meal table is an act
of openness, an act of being part of a family. The event serves as an
opportunity for each member of the family to share their whole experiences,
their reflections, to listen and to be heard, to share lessons learned, their
ups and downs, their story from the whole day’s activities with the family.
Afterwards the family will feel refresh from their bonding, and their
friendship is deepened. When Jesus, together with his disciples, begun his
public ministry, they left their families to travel together, they considered
their group as one family. Where openness, trust and friendship were
experienced and expressed. This is what Jesus pointed out in the synoptic
gospels: while “a crowd was sitting
around Jesus, and they said to him, ‘Look, your mothers and your brothers and
sisters are outside, and they want you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Who is my mother? Who
are my brothers?’ He looked at the people (of course his disciples were there)
sitting around him and said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever
does what God wants is my brother, my sister, my mother.’”[3] Jesus shared many
religiously significant meals with his disciples, and each of which revealed
the important aspect of his message and ministry, and the liberating essence of
fellowship and solidarity with the people.
The meal
fellowship instituted by Jesus Christ was described as a joyful gathering. A
kind of joyful thanksgiving that one can feel in all circumstances of life,
even in the times of difficulties and trials. And so perhaps, this may be the
reason why this sacrament is called Eucharist by the Church. In the latter part
of 100 C.E, the term Eucharist was officially used by the early Christians to
refer to the Lord’s Supper. The bread is used in both
the Old and New Testament to signify God’s sustenance of human beings and the
importance of our eating together. In John 6, the bread signify the identity
and mission of Jesus. The use of bread, especially the whole loaf signifies the
unity of the church as body of Christ, and when it is broken and shared, our
fellowship in that body (I Corinthians 10:16-17).
The
Eucharist is a sacramental meal of visible signs that connects and communicates
to us the love of God in Christ Jesus. What
we receive upon partaking of the meal is the love and faith of God. The
Eucharist is a proclamation and a celebration of the work of God. It is the
benediction by which the Church expresses its thankfulness for all God’s
benefits. The Eucharist is the great sacrifice of praise by which the Church
speaks on behalf of the whole creation. God’s reconciliation is present in the
bread and wine. The bread and wine, the fruits of the earth and of human labor,
are presented to God in faith and thanksgiving.
THE
COMMEMORATION
The breaking
of the bread and Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist was the supreme symbolic
action of a political and prophetic movement in the history of liberation. The book of Exodus describe how the Jews
experienced famine that pushed them to go abroad to Egypt for survival. People came to Egypt from all over the world
to buy grain from, because the famine was severe everywhere (Genesis
41:57). Joseph, the son of Jacob, a
former slave, a Jew who had found favor with the Pharaoh, he was appointed
governor over all Egypt. He was thirty
years old then when he began to serve the king of Egypt and traveled all over
the land (Genesis 41:43,46). He paved the way for the Israelites to have a
place and they became numerous in the land of Egypt. But years after the death
of Joseph and the king Pharaoh who befriended him and his people, the Israelite
people lost favor with their new ruler.
The new king said to his people, “These
Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. In case of
war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape
from the country. We must find someway to keep them from becoming even more
numerous” (Exodus 1:8-10). They were oppressed by the Egyptians. Their lives were made miserable by the Egyptians
and they were forced into cruel slavery. The Egyptians made the Israelites work
on their building projects and their fields, and they had no pity on them
(Exodus 1:13-14). And in order to make them less of a threat to the exploiting
masters, the Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill the male children of the Jews
at birth. But because the midwives were God fearing, they disobeyed the king’s
order. And the Israelites continued to increase and became strong. The
Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went
up to God, who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for
them (Exodus 2:23-25).
In the
political, economic and cultural crises experienced by the Israelites, God
called Moses to lead them out of slavery. God said to Moses, “I have seen how
cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be
rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, and so I
have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt
to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile….I have indeed heard the cry
of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them. Now I am sending
you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country”
(Exodus 3:2-10). God opted to liberate God’s people, and this liberation was a
political liberation.
Tissa
Balasuriya points out that, God’s option was not merely political, it was
violent. Only a revolutionary breakaway from slavery would take his chosen
people onto the road to freedom and a more just society. Moses and Aaron were
violent revolutionary leaders.[4]
God said to Moses, “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he
is forced to do so. But I will use my power and I will punish Egypt by doing
terrifying things there. After that he will let you go” (Exodus 3:19-20). “Then
the Lord said to Moses, “I will send only one more punishment on the King of
Egypt and his people. After that he will let you leave. In fact, he will drive
all of you out of here” (Exodus 11:1). Moses again laid down the instruction of
God to the Israelites, “You must celebrate this day as a religious festival to
remind you of what I, the Lord, have done. Celebrate it for all time to come”
(Exodus 12:14). This refers to the day when the Israelites were delivered from
the bondage of slavery and started on their journey towards the land promised
by God.
During their
journey out of Egypt, God accompanied them, and protected them from any attacks
from the Egyptians who pursued them. God provided them food for the sustenance
of their long march of liberation (Exodus 16:13-14). As they journeyed through the desert, their
relationship with God developed all the more.
Their march saw the creation of their covenant with God as a community
of faith. They journeyed together with
God towards socio-political liberation. They learned to participate in the
struggle for justice, peace and liberation. The liberation from slavery, from
Egypt, led them to be responsible and to be in social relationships that were
liberating and just.
God instructed
to Moses to gather all the leaders of Israel and said to them, “Each of you is to choose a lamb or a young
goat and kill it, so that your families can celebrate Passover. Take a sprig of
hyssop, dip it in the bowl containing the animal’s blood, and wipe the blood on
the doorposts and the above the door of your house. Not one of you is to leave
the house until morning. When the Lord goes through Egypt to kill the
Egyptians, he will see the blood on the beams and the doorposts and will not
let the Angel of Death enter your houses and kill you. You and your children
must obey these rules forever. When you enter the land that the Lord has
promised to give you, you must perform this ritual. When your children ask you,
‘What does this ritual mean?’ you will answer, ‘It is the sacrifice of Passover
to honor the Lord because he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt.
He killed the Egyptians, but spared us’” (Exodus 12:21-27). This became the
great national event for the Israelites, for it marked the birth of the Jewish
people as a nation. This is the main idea of the Passover Haggadah.
Throughout the
centuries the festival has been faithfully kept, and the most elaborative
ritual or document on it that evolved is the “Haggadah shel Pesah”[5] or
the Passover Haggadah and the Seder. Passover Haggadah is a narration of the
Exodus story as recited at the Seder service. The Seder on the other hand, is
the “order” of service or “Erekh” in Hebrew.
It is a festival meal and home service that is conducted on the first
and second night of Passover. The Passover Haggadah in its wider sense, refers
to the manual for the Seder which comprises of selections from the Holy
Scriptures, their expositions in Talmudic and midrashic literature, prayers and
benedictions, legends and hymns, and a guide for the ritual of the
ceremony. This ritual ends with the
great Hallel or the Praises found in Psalms 113-118. It is this Hallel that is stated in the
Gospel of Mark (14:26), “Then they sang a hymn and went to the Mount of
Olives.”
In the Seder
table or Passover meal, we can see the bitter herbs that symbolize the bitter
hardships endured by the Jews in Egypt. Customarily, they use the lettuce that
at first taste is sweet but then is actually bitter. The same as the way the Egyptians treated the
Israelites when they were in Egypt. At first they settled them in the best part
of the land, but later they embittered their lives. The unleavened bread
commemorates the suddenness of their redemption. It also represents the impoverished situation
of the Israelites then. In the Seder table we also see three wafers of
unleavened bread (matzot) that represents the entire Jewish community. The
first unleavened bread represents the kohen
(priests), the second one represents the levi
(levites), and the third bread represent yisrael
(Israelites). The shankbone (zeroa)
symbolizes God’s mighty arm. The egg is an allusion to his loving-kindness; it
symbolizes also the mourning for the destruction of the temple.
The crushed
fruit (haroset), mostly apples, nuts, and almonds, to which ginger or cinnamon
and wine were added symbolizes the clay out of which Israelites made bricks for
Pharaoh. The four cups of wine
commemorates the four verbs referring to the act of redemption in the biblical
passage where God promises to save the Israelites. God said, “I will rescue
you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible
punishment upon them, and I will save
you. I will make you my own people,
and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God when I set
you free from slavery in Egypt” (Exodus 6:6-7). The lamb that occupied the center of the
table symbolizes liberation and freedom. It commemorates the blood of the lamb
wiped on the beam and doorposts of the Israelites houses that spared them from
destruction brought about by the tenth plague, with the killing of all first
born in the land of Egypt. Participants
in this meal see themselves as part of the saving action of God and not simply
remembering the events as glories of the past.
Guillermo Tejon explained that the Jews celebrated
the Passover: “as a memorial that commemorated a great event in their
history (the freedom obtained that day) but a memorial that was actualized
(that freedom was not only for generations past but for all Jews of all time);
in joy (because of all that it meant for the people as a whole and for each
individual in particular); and in hope (that one day the Messiah would appear
and fulfill and their expectations).”[6] All of the
abovementioned simply presents and clarifies that the Eucharist instituted by
Jesus is thus closely connected to the struggle of the Jewish people for their
liberation.
Jesus shared
his secrets of life, explained to his disciples the cause for which he lived
and struggled. He uttered, “DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME,” which defined his
life with the people of God, with the liturgy and worship. “Do this in remembrance of me” is an invitation also for us to
remember to whom we are. It is a call to
his disciples to remember the past under their colonizers, under the oppressive
empire and their puppet government, and to remember how he offered his life for
the people’s movement of liberation.
According to
William H. Willimon, a professor of Christian Ministry, “to remember does not mean mere historical recollection. It more nearly
means to wake up, to open your eyes, to call to mind, to renew or re-awaken.
Remember who you are.”[7] Remembering who we are today, in our worship
life and in our Eucharistic celebrations is to remember the experiences of the
people to whom we owe our origin of Eucharistic celebration: the people of
Palestine in the Greco-Roman period, their worship life, their faith, the tears
and joys, their ups and downs, their socio-economic and political life, and
their revolutionary movement.
Likewise, to
“remember” is not merely historical reflection but also giving attention to our
current situation. According to data
gathered from January 2004 to June 7, 2006, there have been a total of 282
victims of political killings, 69 massacre victims, and 147 missing persons.
And of this number, 390 were ordinary citizens without any political
affiliation. According to Marie Hilao Enriquez, Secretary General of Karapatan,
“The Philippine human rights situation…
can be characterized by the wanton use of repression and state terror by a
scandal-rocked President desperately clinging to power in the face of the
people’s rejection.”[8] Majority of the Filipino people are
deprived of their rights “to own property
and the means of production and consumption that are obtained through land
reform, honest labor… the right to enjoy equal access to the common resources
of society… the right of peasants to land tenure and to own through land
reform, the ancestral land rights of the indigenous people, and the right of
the fisher folk to fish in Philippine waters… the right to gain employment,
humane working and living conditions, livelihood and job security…”[9]
Instead of addressing the clamor of the people, the state and its concerned
agencies have gone all out in harassing and militarizing the people, silencing
and suppressing individuals, organizations and communities that question their
ways.
The right to
life, and “the right to freedom of
thought and expression, freedom of conscience, political and religious beliefs
and practices…. The right to free speech, press, association and assembly… the
right to self-determination as a nation... the right to establish and ensure a
just, democratic and peaceful society… to oppose oppression and tyranny similar
to that of the past dictatorial Marcos regime… the ultimate right to rebel
against and overthrow a brutal tyranny that systematically violates our basic
human rights…”[10]
all these rights are blatantly violated. Political and extra-judicial
killings are intensifying and even church people are not excused.
This is the
reason why a lot of us, church people and believers of Christ, are afraid to
preach the truth, the Good News. During my integration and exposure experience
while doing research and interview in North Cotabato last October 2006, one of
the Pastor said, “Sa lipunan natin
ngayon, tumitindi ang paglabag sa karapatang pantao…. pati ang mga taong
simbahan ay wala na ring ligtas sa patayang nangyayari. Lahat ay pwedeng
bansagang leftist, terorista at komunista kung medyo progresibo ang iyong
sermon. Kung di makulob imong kaldero…basi mabuak imong ulo…” According to Rev. Connie Semy Mella,[11]
we are now in a situation where we cannot simply say that we are in a state of
undeclared Martial Law. We are in a
situation worse than Martial Law, in the sense that there is no distinction
between combatant and non-combatant. It
means that in the current spate of extra-judicial killings, there is no
distinction between civilians or not, between those in legal organizations,
including the Church, and those belonging to armed groups, on how the state and
those in power persecute them.
“Do
this in remembrance of me” is an invitation for us, as we partake in the
Lord’s Table, to respond to his sacrifice and commit to the call of the
times. In this cruel situation, amidst
threats to those who give a prophetic voice, I remember the statement of Fr. Peter
Geremiah in the death of Macel and George Vigo, couple peace advocates in
Kidapawan killed in a public place on June 19, 2006, “...Christ... was condemned and crucified but he rose to new life and
he promised that all those who follow his way of the cross will experience
resurrection. Maybe we cannot yet see
how our communities and our nation can develop the new life of the
resurrection, but I believe it is being generated like a seed underground,
watered by the blood of the martyrs. Those who share their spirit and their
passion for truth and justice, for peace and solidarity, will continue their
struggle….”[12]
The
Eucharist is the memorial of the crucified and risen Christ. All kinds of
injustices, racism, separation and lack of freedom are radically challenged
when we share in the body and blood of Christ. Its sacredness is grounded with
the challenge that we receive, upon our participation, the grace of calling to
be in solidarity with the outcast and to become signs of the love of Christ who
lived and sacrificed himself for all and now gives himself in the
Eucharist. People of all ages are
welcome to the Table and are to be taught and led to interpret, appreciate, and
participate in Eucharistic celebrations. We do not share in Communion because
of our worthiness.
THE
RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT
In Mark 14:23,
Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God’s covenant….” 1st
Corinthians 11:23-25 says, “….the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed,
took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, ‘This is my
body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.’ In the same way, after the
supper he took the cup and said, ‘This
cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.’” Jesus clarified that to eat and drink the
bread and the cup of blessing is to enter into intimate fellowship with him in
his death, to accept what he has done for them and to do this for others. This
is the essence of what Jesus said, “Do
so in memory of me”, having the spirit of covenanting.
Our
participation in the Eucharist is an encounter with Jesus demanding a radical
decision to commit oneself to the covenant community which must be a
transformed community engaged in the redemptive work of Jesus in the world. To
eat and drink here means, standing with him, seeing what he sees, trying to
embrace what he embraces and taking up the task where he leaves it in his
death, which symbolizes the new covenant leading to ultimate liberation. In the
context of our society warped by chronic economic crisis, foreign domination,
intensive disregard of the cry of poor people, wanton terrorism and
“demonization” of human rights advocacies, rampant corruption and anomalies in
the leadership, our concern in the celebration of the Eucharist today is to
become a liberating power and community, and not an ally of oppression. It
means human rights advocacy is our ministry to continue living out Jesus’
ministry that he called us to do. The essence of being a Christian and
followers of Jesus the Christ is present in the Eucharist.
We are
reminded in the Eucharist of our political responsibility as a faith community,
to “continually exert a strong ethical
influence upon the state, supporting policies and programs deemed to be just
and opposing policies and programs that are unjust.”[13]
Let us make our gathering at the Lord’s Table a suitable place for the cry of
the oppressed and marginalized to be uttered and considered. I remember one of
my respondents in the research interview, a tribal leader who is affiliated
with the United Methodist Mission at Tungao, Tempuran, Magpet, North Cotabato.
Datu Mailan Andas said, “ang simba….panagtapok aron hisgutan ang among
kahimtang.” (Worship [which includes the celebration of the Eucharist] is a
gathering in order to discuss our situation). They ask that their ancestral
land be totally released to them and that their socio-political system be
respected. But the government responded by putting up military detachments and
banana plantations controlled by transnational corporations. “Yuta among ginapangayo, sundalo ilang
gihatag…” (What we asked for is land but they gave us soldiers), Datu
Mailan added.
“Militarization
of society must be challenged and stopped.”[14] “We
hold governments responsible for the protection of the rights of the people to
free and fair elections and to the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly,
communications media, and petition of redress of grievances without fear of
reprisal; to the right of privacy; and to the guarantee of the rights to
adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care…. Leaders of governments should be determined
by exercise of the right to vote guaranteed to all adult citizens. We strongly reject domestic surveillance and
intimidation of political opponents by government in power and all other
misuses of elective or appointive offices. The use of detention and
imprisonment for the harassment and elimination of political opponents or other
dissidents violate fundamental human rights….the mistreatment or torture of
persons by government for any purposes violates Christian teaching and must be
condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and whenever it
occurs…”[15]
Jesus,
in his meal with the disciples, spoke of the wine as his blood—the blood of the
new covenant (Jeremiah 31”31-34) between God and God’s people. He also spoke
the wine as a sign of the heavenly banquet that he will celebrate with the
church in the future (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Wine is a powerful symbol of the
unity of the body of Christ gathered at the Lord’s Table. The juice of the red
grape in a common cup represents the church’s covenant with Christ, established
through his atoning death (Hebrews 9:15-28; 13:20-21). The
Eucharist, a meal fellowship emphasizing the presence of Jesus, an act of
commemoration, and renewal of the covenant, is a celebration of the possibility
of and alternative objective community where justice, peace, and integrity of
creation are enjoyed by all. The Eucharist challenges us to love and be an
effective agent for justice, dedicating ourselves to peace throughout the
world, to the rule of justice among nations, and to individual and communal
freedom for all people of the world.
References:
1.
Baker, Frank. METHODISM AND LOVE-FEAST. London: The Epworth Press, 1957.
2.
Balasuriya, Tissa. OMI. THE EUCHARIST AND HUMAN LIBERATION. New
York: Orbis Books, 1979.
3.
Bedell, Kenneth B. Worship in the Methodist Tradition. USA:
Discipleship Resources Tidings, 1976.
4.
Best, Thomas F. and Heller Dagmar
(eds.). EUCHARISTIC WORSHIP IN
5.
ECUMENICAL CONTEXT: The Lima Liturgy –
and Beyond. Switzerland: WCC Publications, 1998.
6.
__________________________________. Se We Believe, So We Pray: Towards Koinonia
in Worship. Switzerland: WCC Publications, 1995.
7.
Cameron, Richard M. METHODISM AND SOCIETY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.
Vol. 1. USA: Abingdon Press, 1961.
8.
Crossan, John Dominic. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. USA:
Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1994.
9.
Elwood, Douglas J. and Magdamo,
Patricia L. CHRIST IN THE PHILLIPINE
CONTEXT. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1971.
10.
Garneau, Jean-Yves. DISCOVERING THE
EUCHARIST: According to a Ritual Approach. Philippines: St. Paul, 1990.
11.
Glatzer, Nahum N. (ed.). THE PASSOVER HAGGADAH. New York:
Schocken Books, 1979.
12.
Hann, Ferdinand. The Worship of the Early Church. USA: Fortress Press, 1973.
13.
Heitzenrater, Richard P. WESLEYAN and the People Called Methodist.
USA: Abingdon Press, 1995.
14.
Hellwig, Monika K. THE EUCHARIST & THE HUNGER OF THE WORLD.
Makati City: St. Pauls Philippines, 2003.
15. Hickman,
Hoyt L. Worshipping With United
Methodist: A Guide for Pastors and Church Leaders. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1996.
16. Hurtado,
Larry H. At the ORIGINS of CHRISTIAN
WORSHIP: The Context and Character of
Earliest Christian Devotion. USA: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999.
17. Khoo,
Lorna Lock-Nah. Wesleyan Eucharistic
Spirituality: Its Nature, Sources and Future. Australia: Australian
Theological Forum Press, 2005.
18.
Kodell, Jerome. OSB. The Eucharist in the New Testament. Manila: St. Pauls Philippines, 1995.
19. Langford,
Thomas Anderson III (Gen. Ed.). THE
UNITED METHODIST BOOK OF WORSHIP. USA: The United Methodist Publishing
House, 2002.
20.
Marquardt, Manfred. John Wesley’s Social Ethics: Praxis and
Principles. USA: Abingdon Press, 1992.
21.
Martin, Ralph P. WORSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2000.
22. Maxwell,
William D. An Outline of CHRISTIAN
WORSHIP: Its Developments and Forms. Great Britain: Oxford University
Press, 1960.
23.
Nolan, Albert. Jesus Before Christianity. Quezon City: Claretian Publications,
1985.
24. Pazmiño,
Robert W. Foundational Issues in
Christian Education: An Introduction in Evangelical Perspective. USA: Baker
Books, 2003.
25. Rieger,
Joerg. and Vincent, John J. METHODIST AND
RADICAL: Rejuvenating a Tradition. USA: Kingswood Books, Abingdon Press,
2003.
26.
Tejon, Guillermo. OP. The MASS We Celebrate. Pasay City:
Paulines Publishing House, 1997.
27. Vaño,
Manolo O. Discovering the Original Jesus:
A Biography of a Revolutionary Genius as He was Actively Known to His
Contemporaries. Quezon City: New Day Publisher, 1998.
28.
Voigt, Edwin E. METHODIST WORSHIP IN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH. USA: Graded Press, 1965.
29.
Weber, Theodore R. POLITICS IN THE ORDER OF SALVATION: Transforming Wesleyan Political
Ethics. USA: Abingdon Press, 2001.
30.
White, James F. INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. USA: Abingdon Press, 1980.
31.
Willimon, William H. SUNDAY DINNER: The Lord’s Supper and the Christian Life. USA: The Upper
Room, 1981.
32. _________________.
Word, Water, Wine and Bread: How Worship
Has Changed over the Years. USA: Judson Press, 1980.
33.
Willimon, William H. and Wilson,
Robert L. “Preaching and Worship in the Small Church” in Creative Leadership Series. Ed. By Lyle E. Schaller. USA: Abingdon
Press, 1980.
34.
THE
UNITED METHODIST BOOK OF WORSHIP. USA: The United Methodist
Publishing House, 2002.
35.
THE
UNITED METHODIST BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. USA: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 2000.
36.
Anno, Ferdinand C. “Doing Worship in
the Context of a People’s Struggle for Life” in The Union Seminary Bulletin.
Yr. 1. Vol. 1, November 2002.
37.
_______________. “The Subversive
Pilgrim and the Liturgical Rhetoric of Struggle” in ANUMANG HIRAP, KUNG HINDI
MASIKIP AY MALUWANG: Iba’t-Ibang Anyo ng Teolohiyang Pumipiglas. Published by
the Union Theological Seminary, 2006.
38.
Larranga, Jose Miguel, SSS. “The
Eucharist in the Theology of Liberation” in The Emmanuel. Philippine Edition,
2001.
39. This
Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion. USA: General
Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church, 2004.
[1] Jerome Kodell, The Eucharist in the New Testament, (Philippines:
St. Pauls Philippines, 1995) p.39.
[2] William D. Maxwell, An Outline of CHRISTIAN WORSHIP: Its
Developments and Forms, (Great Bitain: Oxford University Press, 1960), pp. 5-6.
[3] Mark 3:32-3, Good News Bible (Today’s English Version).
[4] Tissa Balasuriya, p.11.
[5] Nahum N. Glatzer, THE PASSOVER HAGGADAH, (New York: Shocken Books,
1979), p. 5.
[6] Guillermo Tejon, p. 17.
[7] William H. Willimon, Sunday Dinner: The Lord’s Supper and the
Christian Life, p.21.
[8] Marie Hilao Enriquez, The Worst Period for Human Rights after
Marcos Era?, Stop the Killings in the Philippines ,
(Philippines
[9] Asserting Our Human Rights, Volume 1, (Philippines: Dinteg
Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Law Center and Cordillera Human Rights
Organization, 1999) pp.10-11.
[10] Ibid., p.8.
[11] Based on the interview of Rev. Connie Semy Mella, currently the
Davao Episcopal Area Coordinator of the National Innovative Ministries and
Partnership Program of the Philippine Central Conference of the United
Methodist Church.
[12] Father Peter Geremiah. PIME, is an Italian-American Missionary who
has been working for peace in Mindanao since
1977. His name has appeared on a number of blacklist now being circulated by
the military.
[13] United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2000, par 164 letter B.
[14] Ibid, par 165 letter C.
[15] Ibid, par 164 letter A.
No comments:
Post a Comment