Review article
The Eucharist and the moral life
Marinko Perković
; University of Sarajevo - Catholic Faculty of Theology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
Starting with the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council that the moral life
of Christians should be Christologically marked, the author of this article focuses on
the premise that Christian morality is, in its essence, the law of Christ’s grace. Taking
the fact that Christ’s grace is conducted especially through the sacraments, the first
part of the article deals with the sacramental foundation of Christian morality. This
idea is further developed in the second part when the author discusses the Eucharist as
the sacrament of Christ’s love. This leads to the conclusion that Christian morality, by
its very nature, is a Eucharistic morality of love. This love must be evident in all Christians
and should be manifest primarily in selfless service to God and people, especially
in helping the poor. In the third part of the article, the author focuses on the essential
parts of the Eucharistic celebration and strives to bring out of these a useful guide to
daily living. The final section makes it clear that Eucharistic morality is demanding but
achievable because it is a Divine grace that always comes to the assistance of human
weakness. The author also raises a number of issues that encourage further consideration.
Keywords
Jesus Christ; sacrament; Eucharist; grace; morality; helping the poor; love of neighbor.
Hrčak ID:
266449
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2013.
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