Sublating Rationality: The Eucharist as an Existential Trial

Abstract

The Eucharist as a pillar of Christian life and faith stands at the center of the Mass. It carries multi-dimensional meanings and functions, each of which addresses different aspects of the Christian life and mindset. The main question that we will attend to is what happens to the rational framework of the believer or non-believer as s/he affirms or denies that the consecrated bread and wine are Christ’s body and blood. Following Edward Schillebeeckx’s phenomenological approach, it will be argued that such a reformulation of the rational framework accords with Heidegger’s reevaluation of the question of Being. The present reading limits itself to the encounter between the mind and the phenomenon and does not proceed to the meaning of the Eucharist as part of the Mass and the crucifixion of Christ. As such this study is not a historical study nor a sociological or anthropological one.