domingo, agosto 18, 2019

Substantially


Continuing my series on Transubstantiation, a tempting idea came to my mind as an analogy, though grotesque in the face of the grandeur of the theme. I watched a video of Father Paulo Ricardo (1) talking about the subject, and his attempt to explain the mystery of the Eucharist made me think of water. Yes, water.
In short, he says that Jesus is present in bread and wine in "substance", though the "accidental" form remains bread and wine, and we cannot experience Him, so it is not an empirical presence. The explanation is very interesting; it is worth watching the video at the link at the end of this text (in Portuguese).
Immediately, I thought of the water and its numerous and varied solid presentations in the glacial winter, where I live. There is ice, which we all know, and there is snow that varies enormously in its shape and consistency according to weather conditions. I am delighted, for example, by the lace and fancy embroideries that appear on panes of my kitchen window which, by its location, receives the North Pole winds and suffers the most vigorous and direct action of the cold.
All of these presentations are substantially HO, but accidentally different in appearance and consistency. In the case of water, the presence is also empirical, we can experience it. In the Eucharist, on the contrary, what remains are the accidental characteristics: appearance, consistency, taste – of bread and wine; the substance in each one changes: bread and wine become body and blood of Christ respectively.
Obviously, the analogy is precarious, but somehow didactic, don't you think?
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Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
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Related links:

(1) Vídeo do Padre Paulo Ricardo (in Portuguese)

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