Sharing of Liturgical, Theological, and Ecumenical Gifts: A Quest for a Method

Abstract

The article explores relations between the gift and the given. It combines Jean-Luc Marion's and Louis-Marie Chauvet's critique of the instrumentalization of the gift and of an exaggerated visibility of what comes from God, with Mother Maria Skobtsova's notion of non-possession applied also to spiritual wealth. With the assistance of these authors, the article interprets the ecumenicity of liturgical and theological tradition as a common heritage. Thus, it moves beyond assumptions that specific ecclesial groups could “own,” for example, the Easter Triduum, icons, biblical consciousness, or the right and proper manners of conversion, and as their “property” share it with others. It argues that if an ecumenical method is to remain dialogical at all levels, it needs to work both with the positive and the negative aspects of the common heritage, engage in the common process of discernment, and with regard to the multi-layered specificities of each legitimate position move beyond a search for synthesis.