Abuja, Nigeria, Oct 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm
243 bishops participated in Thursday afternoon's seventh meeting of the 11th General Synod of Bishops taking place in Rome this week. The major themes of the discussions revolved around cultural effects and needs for the Eucharistic mystery in a secular and suffering society. Some bishops, particularly from poor and oppressed regions gave emotional addresses about the profound struggles of their flocks and the strength they've received from the Eucharist.
Speaking on the need to evangelize a postmodern, secular culture with is seemingly hostile to the Eucharist and the liturgy, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Malines-Brussels in Belgium said that despite appearances, the culture is one full of paradoxes.
"It is difficult", he said, "for modern man to perceive the invisible, yet there exists real interest in what lies beyond the horizon, beyond the realm of the senses, beyond the rational, beyond efficiency and productivity. Modern man is, above all, a man of action, yet the same man also conceals within a great thirst for gratitude, for giving; he does not like rites because of their repetitiveness and monotony, yet he is always inventing his own rites."
"Christian eschatology", he continued, "appears to be forgotten, even deceptive, yet never has there been so much thirst for a better world, nor so much need for hope. ... Modern man wants to move, and our liturgies have frequently become very active, even activist. But we forget that many of our contemporaries have a real need for silence. Not always have we well understood the meaning of 'actuosa participatio,' which also implies silence in the face of the mystery. All these elements of our culture carry within themselves the seeds for an evangelization of that culture."