Carlo Torriani

SWARGA DWAR

The conversion of a catholic missionary

presented by

Card. Simon Pimenta

PIME Publications, PIME Regional House, Eluru - 534 0-07, A.P., India

PRASAD: THE FIRST SACRAMENT FOR INDIA

Every Catholic priest in India has to face, soon or later, the unpleasant occasion to deny the reception of the holy communion to non-Catholic persons taking part in the Eucharistic celebration.

The occasions are many and varied, like funerals, marriage celebrations, places of pilgrimage, novenas, large public gatherings like the visit of the Pope or the funeral of Mother Teresa.

Genuine and well-meaning non-Catholic believers who - out of sympathy, love or personal relationship,- participate in this religious gatherings, are reminded, at the time of communion, that they are different, unworthy and excluded.

The way of doing or announcing this exclusion sometime is polite (“Now the Catholics can come to receive communion; the non-Catholics can remain sitting and singing”) sometime is rude (“The communion is only for Catholics”) sometime is inquisitorial and ridiculous. A friend of mine distributing communion at a large pilgrims’ center, at Gunadala in Andhra Pradesh, when he was doubtful, he used to ask the Christian name of the person coming for communion, or ask him to make the sign of the cross.

All this is very embarrassing and giving the impression of a legalistic exclusivism.

This desire to receive communion, that means to communicate, is a very positive religious sign, is  an appreciation of Christian worshiping, is a desire to be part of the Christian community, is the beginning of the love for Jesus. Sometime it is an unconscious desire, but also unconscious desire can be positive, and can be the beginning or the base on which a conscious assent can be constructed. It is anyway an unconscious desire to acknowledge whatever good is perceived in Christianity and participate in it.

Unfortunately our legalistic mentality prevent us from acknowledging and accepting this sign as the first step of non-Christians towards Christ.

This is in contrast to the attention of Jesus who was interpreting sympathetically every small positive sign, like the one of the widow who puts a small coin in the treasury of the temple, like the eagerness of Zacchaeus who climbs a tree to catch a sight of him.

In the Christian tradition the first sacrament (symbolic action which gives grace) is baptism.

But in the early Christian scriptures we find instances in which baptism is administered not to give the first grace, but to confirm a grace already received. The Acts of the Apostles bear witness to this. “While Peter was still speaking, the holy Spirit came down on all the listeners…all were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on gentiles too…Only then Peter himself said: ”Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, now they have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” (Acts:10,44)

So baptism, in this case, is a confirmation or a seal, something which comes after.

If grace is given before baptism, we cannot claim that baptism should be always the first sacrament.

In India the first approach to Christ can come through sharing of the Christian prasad.

In India every devotee is welcome in a temple and prasad (sharing of offerings) is offered to everyone who pays a visit, also to tourists. This gives a very positive impression to the western tourists. Christian assemblies do not reciprocate this welcome gesture.

The non-Christian may not be conversant with the concept of transubstantiation or sacramental presence, but they know that the host is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The Christian point of view is that one cannot receive communion unless he is a Christian, and one cannot be a Christian unless he has received baptism. This is the traditional point of view. But it must be acknowledged that this is a legalistic point of view. Commonly speaking everyone, who loves and admires Jesus, is a disciple of Jesus and every disciple should not be stopped from meeting his guru. If the Christian community in India respects this principle, will receive much more respect. This welcoming attitude of giving the Christian prasad to everyone who ask for it, could be the starting point on which to build a deeper understanding of the person of Jesus, of his message and of his community.

Fr.Subash Anand is of the opinion that “life long commitment to Jesus does not appear to be a pre-requisite to participate in the Eucharist. Even people who are not prepared to accept the explanation Jesus gives about himself as the bread of life are given a share in his Eucharist. Jesus offers a meal to his guests, as we all do, even to guests who drop in for the first time. When he did this it was not a formality, but a sincere reaching out, a genuine invitation to communion with him, and through him with his Abba and with one another. This gesture was part of his proclamation, part of the faith-formation process.”

(Subash Anand, The Inculturation of the Eucharistic Liturgy, VJTR 57 (1993) 269-293, p.287) “Baptism signifies a lifelong commitment to Jesus, while the Eucharist would mean, initially at least, a passing encounter with Jesus”(p.287) “As far as I know there is no indication in the New Testament that the Eucharist is only for baptized.” (p.288)

“A person who really loves, even if he is not baptized, is worthy to participate in this love-meal” (p.291)

Recently, October 1999, the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, had given a “simple little rule” about inter-communion: everyone who can in good conscience say “Amen” to the eucharistic prayer of the Catholic Mass, may take communion in a Catholic church.(The Tablet, London,16 Oct.99,p.1410) He was speaking about Christians of other denominations, but the bishops of India should see whether the same “simple little rule” can be used also in India for believers of other religions

In India we can say that anyone who understand and accept the announcement: ”This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world “ should not be denied communion. Is this faith not enough?

This is a problem that the bishops of India should consider seriously and assess whether the Church in India can share the Christian prasad with all those who ask for it.

One of the conclusions of the Consultation of the CCBI Commission for Proclamation (Ishwani Kendra, Pune, Dec.99) says: “We need to have a ministry to those who wish to be identified merely as disciples of Jesus without being affiliated to the Church”

(Jnanadeepa 2000,Vol.3,No.1,p.161-167)

In the document “Inherited Traditions of Faith and Inculturation” of the Sixth Colloquium of Bishops and Theologians. (VJTR 64 (2000) 450-455) the Bishops said that: “Finally, a question was raised as regards the issue of full or partial membership in the Church”. (No.13) and further (No.22) they said: “Evangelization in India through inculturation would then mean the promotion of Basic Human Communities in which people share their life (and bread), regardless of the dividing lines of caste and creed.”

The Bishops of Japan had faced a similar problem. The Christian way of celebrating marriage has a particular attraction on young Japanese people. Many non-Christian couples ask to be married in church with Christian rituals. The bishops had agreed to this popular demand because they thought that it could be the first approach to Christianity.

After all the Church allows to give baptism to infants relying on the faith of the parents.

Similarly the Church can allow prasad to be given as first sacrament, to those who ask, relying on the faith of the priest who hopes he can build on this starting point.