The Eucharistic Presence and Making Christ Present in the Word of God: A Study Inspired by the Views of Robert Sokolowski

Robert Sokolowski wrote that biblical words activate the presence of God. But can we speak of the “sacramentality of the word” analogous to the sacrament itself? This paper collects reflections on the “making present” of the word of God intra mysteriorum celebrationem. This issue is related to the theme of the relationship between past and present in the Eucharist, which was dealt with by Sokolowski. The article summarizes this philosopher’s views on the Eucharistic presence, in dialogue with which it then reflects on the presence of Christ in the word of God. From the “Passover-centricity” of the Holy Scriptures stems a kind of making present the anticipatory self-giving of God in the events to which the inspired texts testify. The liturgy of the word must lead to the climactic event of Passover and its sacramental making present. There can be no question of “two presences” of the Lord at Mass. The words of institution from the Last Supper have a role in the actualization of the Passover, while the inspired words are not in the same way “instituting” words. It is only in their inner orientation that they lead to the mystery of Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Obecność eucharystyczna a uobecnienie Chrystusa w słowie Bożym. Studium inspirowane poglądami Roberta Sokolowskiego

Robert Sokolowski pisał, że biblijne słowa uaktywniają obecność Boga. Czy można jednak mówić o sakramentalności słowa analogicznej do samego sakramentu? W artykule zebrano refleksje na temat „uobecnienia” słowa Bożego intra mysteriorum celebrationem. Kwestia ta wiąże się z tematem związku przeszłości z teraźniejszością w Eucharystii, którym zajmował się Sokolowski. W artykule zrekapitulowano poglądy filozofa dotyczące obecności eucharystycznej, w dialogu z którym dokonano następnie namysłu nad obecnością Chrystusa w słowie Bożym. Z „paschalnocentryczności” Pisma Świętego wynika jakiegoś rodzaju uobecnienie antycypacyjnego wydania się Boga w wydarzeniach zaświadczonych w natchnionych tekstach. Liturgia słowa musi prowadzić do kulminacyjnego wydarzenia Paschy i jego sakramentalnego uobecnienia. Nie może być mowy o „dwóch obecnościach” Pana w czasie Mszy Świętej. Słowa ustanowienia z Ostatniej Wieczerzy pełnią rolę w aktualizacji Paschy, zaś natchnione słowa nie są w taki sam sposób słowami „ustanawiającymi”. Dopiero w ich wewnętrznym ukierunkowaniu prowadzą do misterium Chrystusa obecnego w Najświętszym Sakramencie.

Thinking with Robert Sokolowski about phenomenology and personalism

Robert Sokolowski wishes to provide what he calls “glimpses” that provide essential philosophical clarifications regarding the nature of the human person, whom the author also calls “the agent of truth.” He claims that our rationality constitutes us as human persons and wishes to explain such rationality in action to reveal its existing manifestations. He calls for epistemic modesty, pointing out our inability to fully understand the mystery of human personhood. Our article reflects on the way Sokolowski approaches the study of what constitutes the human person, underlining his preference for basing his ideas on dissecting distinct human activities, which helps us identify how human rationality and personhood manifest themselves. We further reflect on what Sokolowski means by emphasizing that human rationality is “essentially a disclosure of things” as opposed to the ability to note, describe, evaluate and/or infer ideas in your brains. Finally, we argue that to understand what constitutes the human person, we must take into account the human essential relationality and openness to the other/Other

From David Burrell CSC to Sara Grant RSCJ: The distinctive relation between creature and Creator in Christian theology

I focus in this article on the work of the contemporary Thomist, David Burrell, and the ways in which he is influenced particularly by Robert Sokolowski and Kathryn Tanner in his articulation of the sui generis relation between creature and Creator. By paying close attention to Burrell's work on the metaphysics of creation I show how the notions of ‘distinction’ and ‘relation’ cannot be separated in his understanding of the world-and-God. I then examine how Thomas's own thinking through of these issues was carried out in engagement with voices from outside the Christian tradition and, finally, explore Burrell's invitation to extend the conversation beyond Abrahamic frontiers by turning to the work of a lesser-known Thomist scholar – Sara Grant.

Phenomenologies of Scripture

This collection of essays by eminent phenomenologists and biblical scholars explores phenomenological approaches to the Bible. The specific goals of this collection are two-fold: first, it advances the recent “theological turn” in phenomenology by turning to scripture. Second, it resolves some of the philosophical and theological difficulties raised by modern biblical interpretation. More generally, the volume re-establishes a rapport between philosophy, theology, and biblical studies. Contributors include Jeffrey Bloechl, Walter Brueggemann, Jean-Louis Chrétien, Kevin Hart, Robyn Horner, Emmanuel Housset, Jean-Yves Lacoste, Jean-Luc Marion, Dale Martin, and Robert Sokolowski.

God’s Word and Human Speech

In this chapter, Robert Sokolowski outlines a phenomenological approach to scripture, as both God’s word and human text, in a Roman Catholic theological context.