The major problem of eucharistic theology in our century is not that people do not understand and value the meaning of Eucharist. The problem is that they do.

The Eucharist, every child learns young, is the sign of Christian community, the very heart of it, in fact. And who would deny the bond, the depth, the electrical force that welds us together in it? Here, we know, is the linkage between us and the Christ, between us and the Gospel, between us and the Tradition that links us to Jesus himself and to the world around us. No, what the Eucharist is meant to be is not what’s in doubt.

What’s in doubt is that the Eucharist is really being allowed to do what it purports to do—to connect us, to unify us, to make us One. The truth is that as much as Eucharist is a sign of community it is also a sign of division. For the sake of some kind of ecclesiastical political fiascos centuries ago between the East and West, we close the table between Orthodox and Uniate—though the faith is the same and the commitments are the same and the vision of life and death are the same.

What’s in doubt, too, is that the division between baptized men and baptized women can possibly witness to what we say is the faith: that men and women are equal; that women are fully human beings; that God’s grace is indivisible; that discipleship is incumbent on us all; that we are all called to follow Christ.

At the end of one presentation after another, women make it a point to continue the discussion with me. “I used to be Catholic,” they begin. “I was a Catholic once,” they say. “I’m a recovering Catholic now,” they announce. It’s a sad litany of disillusionment and abandonment by a Church they once thought promised them fullness of life and then let them know it is their very persons that deny them that.

Call it “holy” communion if you want, they tell me, but it’s not. Not like that. Not under those conditions.

So they go away to where Jesus waits for them, arms open, in someone else’s Christian church. There’s something about it that simply defies the lesson of Mary Magdalene or the Woman at the Well or Mary of Bethany or Mary of Nazareth. They go where every minister of the altar, every bishop, every lawgiver, every homilist, every member of every Synod on the planet is not male. They go where they can see “the image of God” in themselves in another woman. They go where eucharistic theology, which we’re told makes us one, is palpable.

—from “Eucharist” by Joan Chittister, Spirituality Magazine, Volume 18, March-April 2012, No 101. Dominican Publications: Republic of Ireland.

Because we received an unusual number of responses to Joan Chittister’s reflection piece, “The eucharist dilemma,” we are posting a sampling here.

The excerpt from Eucharist said the saddest and most truthful things I've read about the alienation from our Church of people who should have been treated more kindly, as Christ did those who came to him for help. Thanks – R.H.
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Dear Sister Joan, I have just now finished reading your article on Eucharist and wish to share with you a few thoughts that flittered through my mind. I find it incomprehensible that women are not allowed to become priests because they are just that, women. Several years ago when I was contemplating this situation the Church’s argument/position is absurd or better comical. As I see it, Mary was the first Chosen of God, the First apostle called to bring forth the Eucharist.

If as the Church claims Mary was conceived of the Holy Spirit, then Christ’s entire humanity came from Mary a woman, not a man unless artificial insemination was used! This of course is feasible in the 2lst Century but most unlikely 2000 years ago. Also, as I see it there is no relevance to Joseph, Mary’s spouse being of the House of David as he had no genetic connection to Jesus. I hope these thoughts don’t disturb you as I am often shunned and ridiculed for my thought process. Joan, I thoroughly enjoy your writings and emails….may God keep you safe and healthy. – E.O’S
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Dear Sr. Joan, I am a Jesuit priest and I totally agree with your assessment of the unifying and dividing aspects of the Eucharist, but I feel we don't go far enough in understanding what the Eucharist is supposed to do in those of us who attend and receive. I am sending you a copy of a homily I gave on Corpus Christi Sunday which explains what, I believe, we are missing in our overall Catechesis on the Eucharist and its power to transform. I hope you enjoy it. – F. E.
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A friend of mine went to mass with me one time. She is Episcopal. She commented that going to mass and not being allowed communion was like going to someone's home for dinner and being denied the meat course. How insightful that was to me. – E.W.
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Wonderful post, Sister Joan. However (and perhaps you address this elsewhere), I think that the fact that all celebrants and all those in positions of making policy in the Catholic Church are male is only part of the "Eucharist Dilemma." What about the "dilemma" of Protestants who recognize the Eucharist as our deepest connection to Christ and as a symbol of our Christian unity, but are told they may not partake from the Catholic Table? I'm an Episcopalian sister in an ecumenical Benedictine community in eastern Kentucky, and have frequently had the (male) priest stand before the congregation in more than one Catholic church and remind us that only Catholics in good standing should partake. I do quietly follow my conscience and partake anyway, but it feels absolutely against what Christ taught us: that women, as well as men, can be leaders, and that ALL are welcome at the table. – D.D.
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Loved your reflections on the Eucharist. Only regret is that you did not specifically comment on the millions of Protestant and evangelical Christians who are turned away from full participation at the Eucharistic table when worshiping in Roman Catholic Churches. It is always very painful to hear in so many words, "We're glad you came for the meal, but we trust you'll understand that dessert will be served only to baptized and confirmed Catholics." – R.K.E.
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Hi Joan, I have never written before, but had to for this post.
I couldn't agree with you more! Thank you for your voice and your very articulate description of the situation! I want to share this with everybody! If you find an answer, please let me know! I know that is a lot of exclamation points, but I feel very strongly about this. I am still a very involved, practicing Catholic, and at 60 have struggled with this since I was 7. I am so grateful for your words. Blessing to you, I offer prayers for your continued work. – K.A.H.
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Sister Joan, I read your recent posting with interest. It was just last week that I felt completely rejected in my Christian identity. My 8-year-old nephew was celebrating his First Communion in the Roman Catholic Church. I am Episcopalian, and I was denied participation in this service. While the choir sang words to the effect that all who come to the table are blessed and saved, I commented to my husband (who was also raised Catholic) that that really only meant those who were of the Roman Catholic denomination. I felt completely excluded. It was a sad moment for me. In my Episcopalian congregation, all (not just all who are baptized Episcopalians or even all Christians) are welcome at the table. I don't mean to stake the moral high ground, but I feel so blessed that I am part of a denomination that does not insist on these distinctions. I am a Christian. Period. I should be welcome at the table! – K.C.
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My dear Sister Joan, I am a 68-year-old male child of God who spent many of those years as a Roman Catholic. My heart breaks as I see so many, like myself, who could no longer wait for changes that are very unlikely to take place in our lifetimes. I have children and many nieces and nephews in their thirties and early forties who also see no hope for the change in the Catholic Church that the teachings of Jesus, the gospels and other scripture scream out for. Fortunately I do not despair as I take comfort knowing that ultimately God is in control and His/Her plan will, in fact, come to pass. In the meantime, I pray not only for the Catholic Church but for all of us who call God Father or Mother, all of us who call Jesus the Christ, our teacher, our brother and our redeemer. I pray for all God's children to understand that Love is the only answer and that God's love for each of us, female, male, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, non believer and more is the same. It is the perfect Love that calls each of us to look at the other and recognize God's presence right there before us. Thank you for your voice. Pax tecum semper! – J.W.
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You just wrote my life. The Roman tradition is my mother and I love her, but she really wanted a son. The Protestant tradition is my lover who accepts me as I am. I am now ordained in a Protestant tradition which welcomes all to the table and to service. I cried when I left the Roman Church; it was the only way to follow my vocation. Thank you for your wonderful articles and books, which I use often with my congregation. Blessings! –S.H.S.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying so plainly what is in the very heart and soul of women who have listened to the male explanation of Christ’s choices for priesthood for too, too long. However, this Pope’s learning curve, however wide it embraces, falls very short here. Thanks again – M.M.
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Sr. Joan, Your commentary on the Eucharist Dilemma really nails it. Thanks for putting it into words. – D.C.
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Dear Sister Joan:
May I begin by letting you know that I have been using your books and CDs for years for retreats and spiritual reading. Your insights have helped me in my relationship with God and in my preaching. As a matter of fact, from time to time I mention in a homily how much your writings have meant to me and I encourage my parishioners to purchase your books.
As a Catholic priest, I am embarrassed by the way the hierarchy has treated women religious (who have been the backbone of the Church and societies as well) and has hardly ever acknowledged the gifts that women religious have been to the Church. I say all this to let you know before you read any further that I am not some angry conservative but I am indebted to you for your insights.
I’ve been a parish priest for over 37 years and I don’t write this as a cynic but in my experience, I have to disagree with your first sentence in your Ideas in Passing blog entitled “The eucharist dilemma”. You write: “The major problem of eucharistic theology in our century is not that people do not understand the value and meaning of the Eucharis. The problem is that they do.”
My experience is that many Catholic people are so caught up in the busyness of their lives that they are truly ignorant of what the Eucharist is. They seem not to be able to make any connection that receiving the Eucharist can nourish them spiritually and help them with the many challenges they deal with in keeping a marriage and family together while they work to support their household. When I prepare a young couple for marriage in the Church or to baptize their baby and I ask them (I think in a non-threatening way!) about their connection to the parish and their attendance at Mass, I frequently get this response: “I really enjoy coming to Mass but I really don’t know why I just don’t make the effort to come more often. I just get so involved with things going on in my life that I don’t make the time.”
The people I deal with hardly ever are even aware of the issues you bring up, like the Orthodox/Uniate controversy or the inequality that exists in the Church between women and men.
I think what does bother (and I’m glad about that!) them is the horrible manner in which the hierarchy has dealt (or not) with the clergy abuse of children and not been held responsible, the lack of compassion and understanding of LGBT issues and the insensitive way divorced people who are married a second time outside the Church are treated. I also think they have an intuition that the American bishops seem more interested in “defending the institutional Church” than living the Gospel of Jesus (as Pope Francis is asking us to do!)
I think poor preaching and poor eucharistic celebrations are also a large factor in why people stop going to church (isn’t it weird that most of our congregants are women and yet we don’t even consider the ordination of women and having women preach?) Women have had to put up with hearing the masculine approach to the Gospel – there’s a whole other dimension that would round things out!
Another factor might be that people hardly have any sense of community any more. Our American society is very individualistic.
My guess, Sister Joan, is that many of the people who attend your presentations are educated, thinking, reflecting women. They would be in a minority in most suburban parishes (which is where I’ve ministered my whole priesthood). Most of the women and men I minister to are educated in the areas of their careers, but their religious education is that of an 8th grader (I’m not blaming them---that’s when their religious education stopped – confirmation is usually the “graduation” from religious education and church-going, for parents and their kids!)
The people I minister to are wonderful, for the most part. They are trying to raise their kids to be respectful and kind to others, and to get a good education. They drive their kids to endless after- school activities. They are trying to work at their marriage and work hard to provide for their household needs. They are exhausted by these things. Few of these good people have time (or sit down to figure out how to make time) for Mass and they have very little understanding of and value for the Eucharist, I believe. I can understand why. We know that God loves them all.
Thanks for hearing me out! With gratitude for sharing your gifts with us, your sisters and brothers in Christ – J.S.