Sacramentum Caritatis Bulletin Articles - #3

Click here for part 2 & link to part 1:

For St. Jude's 9/2/2007 bulletin - Thanks, Fr. Fox!

SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS - Part 3
This is the third part of a series of bulletin articles on the March, 2007 apostolic exhortation from Pope Benedict the XVI entitled ‘Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Love)’. For further study, refer to the 1st 6 paragraphs of SC.
The three sections of Sacramentum Caritatis are all titled after the ‘Mystery’ of the Eucharist. Each part is named ‘The Eucharist: a Mystery to be…(…Believed’, part 1) (…Celebrated’, part 2) (…Lived’, part 3). A quick scan of SC shows that Pope Benedict uses this term throughout the exhortation at least 70 times. This emphasis is an important insight in and of itself, but it requires us to understand the meaning of the word ‘mystery’ in the context of our faith.
The mysteries of our faith are realities that extend beyond our knowledge and comprehension. Our understanding of these mysteries is limited by our human nature, but made real to us by God’s revelation. In the Greek language of the New Testament, the word for ‘mystery’ (musterion) appears 27 times. When that same term is translated to Latin, the term that is often used is sacramentum, which is also from where the Church’s term ‘sacrament’ is derived.
Consider other common Church usage of the term ‘mystery’: to Eastern Rite Christians, what we know as the 7 Sacraments are referred to as Mysteries; the Paschal Mystery, where we refer to the Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of God in human form; at Mass, when we may be invited to prepare to ‘celebrate the sacred Mysteries’, or during the Memorial Acclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer where the priest invites all to ‘proclaim the Mystery of faith’.
When Pope Benedict writes, ‘[t]he Eucharist is a "mystery of faith" par excellence: "the sum and summary of our faith."’ (SC ¶6), he focuses us on the mysteries we believe. This belief invites us to encounter and know Jesus Christ, the Divine Son who became man, suffered and died and rose to make atonement for our sins and to unite us to God. This encounter and knowledge is given to us in the breaking of the bread - the real and substantial presence of Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist.

adapted from presentations written by Rev. Martin Fox, published at http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com; alt. GPW