The Eucharist and the Hunger of Africa

Karongo, Buberwa (2004) The Eucharist and the Hunger of Africa. Licentiate thesis, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

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Abstract

Jesus' statement to his disciples that he is the bread of life and whoever goes to him will never hunger, and whoever believes in him will never thirst (Jn 6:35) has caused some to ask question: "How can this man give us his (flesh) to eat?" (v. 52). Yes, without faith, this saying is hard to accept (v. 60), admitted the disciples. Have we stopped asking the same question? Have we ceased searching for answers? Of course not! However, our contemporary question is not on how Jesus can give us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. Rather, our question is based on our celebration of the Eucharist today. In other words, the question focuses on the social implications of celebrating the Eucharist today. The question we are faced with today is this: How meaningfully can we continue to celebrate the Eucharist while hundreds of thousands of people, especially in Africa, go hungry? For Christ whose life, death and resurrection we celebrate in the Eucharist demands that we feed the hungry as he did. In the Eucharist we celebrate the mystery of the body and blood of Jesus Christ given for us and we partake in it fully. And the bread of life that Jesus gives in the Eucharist, and the hunger that this bread promises to satisfy, remain intrinsic to the life of faith, and in the daily life of Christians. However, despite the promise and the demand people continue starving. In the meantime, Christians continue to worship and receive the Lord Jesus who offers a promise to satisfy the hunger of anyone who goes to him. This situation of not satisfying hunger persists despite the fact that the sharing at the Lord's Table brings together the haves and the have-nots. How can the celebration of the Eucharist respond to this situation? For the bread that we share in the Eucharist obliges us to share the material bread with those in dire need.

Item Type: Thesis (Licentiate)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Biblical Foundation orthe of the Eucharist, The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, The Situation of Hunger in Africa, The Eucharist and Hunger of Africa,
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Divisions: Africana
Afro-Christiana
Depositing User: JHI Africa
Date Deposited: 12 Mar 2014 12:12
Last Modified: 27 Oct 2014 11:55
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/15

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