I just recently read, over at John Allen’s All Things Catholic, about Manilla’s new archbishop. He sounded intriguing, so I did a little looking and found his highly acclaimed address to the World Eucharistic Congress in Quebec. It’s just under an hour if you watch all six parts on Youtube, but I’ll share my favorite segment here:
Not only does Bishop Tagle get the commonly botched doctrine of Eucharistic Sacrifice exactly right (not that I’m too surprised, he is a member of the International Theological Commission!), but he puts it in a context that makes clear what the early Christians were responding to when they decided to use sacrificial language to describe Jesus’ death. And he does so in a way that helps Christians of today see what it calls us to. Eucharistic Sacrifice isn’t merely a private affair.
Humans are sacrificing animals. We will sacrifice to whatever we worship. We “Gotta Serve Somebody.” A coherent doctrine of Eucharistic Sacrifice makes this clear. It is a vaccine against idol worship.
And, on top of being a top notch theologian and preacher, this good bishop seems remarkably balanced and humble. It’s heartening to hear about shepherds like this. May the Lord send us many more!
Brett Salkeld is a doctoral student in theology at Regis College in Toronto. He is a father of three (so far) and husband of one.
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