In a presentation designed to offer practical help to musicians who have responsibility for choosing the texts sung at Mass, Dr. Lauren Pristas of Caldwell College examined a variety of contemporary hymns and commented on their strengths and weaknesses from a theological perspective. Her study, entitled "Hymnody and the Eucharist: Critical Considerations," found that many of the hymns in the more popular Catholic hymnals used today fall far short of expressing, or even distort, Catholic truth—particularly with respect to our Catholic doctrines about creation, grace and the sacrament of the Eucharist. This situation, which is not the fault of musicians who cannot be expected to have the requisite theological training, requires correction for at least two reasons: fitting worship requires sound doctrine and sung texts form the understanding of Catholics who weakly catechized. She concluded that there is a serious need in today’s church for bishops and pastors exercise oversight to insure that the hymns sung at Mass are in full conformity with the doctrines of our Catholic faith.

Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B., of Mt. Angel Seminary, in a paper entitled "Preaching in Eucharistic Context: The Patristic Vision," discussed the question of how preaching during the Eucharist should be not only scriptural but also more doctrinal (i.e., preaching about the Eucharist itself and preaching about other doctrines during the Eucharist). He insisted that this could be done without lapsing into a scholastic or technical approach. Patristic models are guides showing how the deepest sense of the scriptural text itself is discovered in the eucharistic celebration and that this must be preached about. Likewise the deepest sense of all the main doctrines lies in the scripture as celebrated in the liturgy, and this must be preached about. After examining many patristic models of this kind of preaching, he reached four conclusions: 1) that preachers must become again masters of the tradition of typology, 2) that preachers need to practice regularly connecting the Scriptures of the day to the celebrations of the Eucharist which follows them, 3) that preachers should not shy from teaching doctrine conceived in this way, and 4) that a well developed eucharistic preaching should be promoted especially during the season of Easter.

Dr. James LeGrys, Theological Advisor to the N.C.C.B. Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practice, presented a paper on "Understanding the Eucharist as a Sacrifice in the Contemporary Context." He began by reflecting on certain aspects of Enlightenment thought that make people in our culture very suspicious of any idea of sacrifice and that have led to the rejection of the idea in some contemporary christologies. He then examined the understanding of sacrifice in the Old Testament, concluding that the distinctive conception of sacrifice found there is not subject to the critiques of those who reject the idea of sacrifice as appropriate only for a primitive level of religious consciousness. In particular, animal sacrifice in ancient Israel was not based on the idea of appeasing the divine wrath by directing to the animal victim the punishment owed to human persons, but on the sacred status of blood, which God has reserved for the expiation of sins. LeGrys then argued that we cannot set aside the Old Testament idea of sacrifice, but must follow the New Testament authors in understanding Jesus’ sacrifice in relation to those sacrifices, as their fulfillment. The limitations of the imperfect Old Testament sacrifices are overcome in Christ’s perfect sacrifice, for it not only unites them, Passover sacrifice, covenant sacrifice, and sin sacrifice, it also surpasses them, as the Letter to the Hebrews teaches us.

Sr. Susan Wood, S.C.L., from the School of Theology at Saint John’s University, discussed the "The Liturgical Assembly as an Ordered Community." Her paper described the various roles and interrelationship of the ordained minister and the rest of the assembly in the eucharistic liturgy which is paradigmatic of the Church, the priestly People of God. The common priesthood is deputed to an active liturgical role through baptism. Within the liturgy the ordained priest engages the priesthood of the faithful and represents the priesthood of Christ to that common priesthood. The ordained priesthood is distinct from the common priesthood because it is authorized by prayer to the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands. This authorization links the present assembly to other assemblies in the recognition that no particular church can be church apart from communion with the other particular churches or apart from the apostolic Church with which it is in continuity and communion. An ordained priest is distinguished from the rest of the assembly within a head/body relationship by which the priest is over/against the community as head while at the same time he is also a member of the body. This over/againstness of the priest enables him within the community to address prophetic words, to exercise a pastoral ministry of oversight of charisms, and to preside sacramentally as the instrument of Christ’s action in the sacrament.

Dr. Khaled Anatolios of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, provided an oriental perspective with a presentation entitled "Heaven and Earth in Byzantine Liturgy." While the motif of the "heavenly liturgy" in the Byzantine tradition is sometimes interpreted as if the liturgy were an event staged in heaven and away from earth, it is really based on the conception of a christological synergy of heaven and earth. In the Byzantine tradition, liturgical space is configured according to the conception of the Church building as a union of heaven and earth that takes place through the union of Christ’s humanity with his divinity. Liturgical space dramatizes the movement of the Church as an entrance into the heavenly realm through the Passover of Christ. The paschal mystery also encapsulates all of time, such that henceforth the future kingdom of Christ can be "remembered" within the anamnesis of his sacrificial death and resurrection. The christological simultaneity of cross and exaltation is reflected by a human deportment of simultaneous exaltation and repentance (metanoia), a deportment that is enacted in the Byzantine liturgy within a dramatized theology of grace which focuses not so much on questions of human capacity or incapacity but on human transformation in Christ. Within this liturgical drama, the Holy Spirit is the one who assimilates the human sinner to the self-offering of Christ, which in turn effects our entrance into the heavenly realm.

Rev. Gabriel O’Donnell, O.P. from St. Mary’s Priory, New Haven, Connecticut, gave a presentation entitled "Visus, Tactus, Gustus: The Adoration of the Eucharist Outside of Mass." The Eucharist is the sacrament that addresses basic human instincts; the senses of sight, touch and taste, as they are employed to gain information and knowledge, experience and sustenance. What the visible, created world is to the person, the Eucharist is to the Christian. Thus did the Fathers of Vatican II speak of this sacrament as the source and summit of Christian life. The celebration of the Eucharist must always be extended, continued into every moment of daily life. The relationship between looking and tasting, gazing and eating, is well established in the patristic tradition. The fact that the rise of the cult of adoration came about during a period when actual reception of the Eucharist was infrequent should not mislead us in evaluating the revival of this practice in the post Vatican II period when Eucharistic communion is widespread. For modern Catholics Eucharistic adoration often engenders a spirit of prayer and intimacy with Christ that may not be so available in the actual celebration of the Eucharist. Long periods of silence and a sense of solitude, even in communal, public adoration, address a certain spiritual hunger expressed by many who participate in adoration. Provided this participation follows the Church’s norms, the dangers of sentimentalism and individualism, though real, are outweighed by the spiritual good afforded the people of God.

Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, director of the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois, gave a lecture entitled, "The Eucharistic Tabernacle: Theological Meanings, Practical Locations." Mannion proposed that an historical survey of Eucharistic tabernacle yields five "types," which he named as ark, building, treasury, tower, and ambry. As ark, the tabernacle serves to signify the irrevocable and pervasive divine presence. As building, the tabernacle signifies the church’s own being and vocation as the Body of Christ. The tabernacle "treasury" elaborates in its design the manifold richness of eucharistic communion. The tower form of the tabernacle suggests the eschatological hope of the heavenly city of God. The ambry, the earliest form of the tabernacle, underscores the charitable and service orientation of the eucharistic community. Mannion pointed out that none of the types exist in pure form, but that a typological analysis may be helpful in clarifying the church’s theology and practice of Eucharistic reservation today.

At the Business Meeting the president of the SCL, Msgr. Mannion, reported of the general state of the Society’s affairs. Membership increased by eleven, bringing the total to 166. The finances of the Society are stable, thanks to continued support of Our Sunday Visitor Institute which helps defray the cost of the annual conference. The Society’s publication, Antiphon, is doing well both in terms of increased readership and continued financial support from many bishops, other benefactors, and membership dues.

Mr. Mark Bradford of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary volunteered to host the 2001 conference which had to be moved from Fort Wayne for logistical reasons. The conference, "Liturgy and the Formation of Christians," will be held at Mary Immaculate Retreat Center in Northampton, Pennsylvania, September 20-23, 2001. For 2002, members chose the topic "Celebrating the Lord’s Day" and the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois as the location. Dr. Denis McNamara will serve as the 2002 conference manager.

In other business, the members reviewed, discussed and approved the Society’s General Operating Procedures (GOP) stipulating only one change: changes in the GOP must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the board and ratified by the membership. Rev. James Massa suggested that the Society make some kind of outreach to seminarians and was asked to submit a written proposal to the board.