Event held to celebrate Christian unity
By Josh Tng
VANCOUVER
Eastern Catholic or Western Catholic, sacraments are sacraments, says Father Richard Soo, SJ.
“The destination is the same, even if the experience getting there is different,” said Father Soo, pastor of Richmond Eastern Catholic Church, a Byzantine tradition parish of the Eparchy of New Westminster.
Despite the differences between the Sacraments celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Mysteries celebrated in the Eastern Church, he encouraged the faithful to celebrate the gifts from God wholeheartedly.
Father Soo, Superior of the Jesuit Community of Vancouver, gave his presentation Mysteries: Sacramental Thought and Practice in the Eastern Churches on Jan. 21 at St. Mark’s College. The presentation, organized by the Newman Association, discussed the importance of the Sacraments (called Mysteries in the Eastern Churches) for spiritual salvation, as seen through the Eastern Catholic Churches’ ideology.
“The truth of the Mysteries is so deep that any expression, however truthful, cannot encompass the entirety of the truth,” said Father Soo. Unfortunately the Sacraments can also be passively received by the faithful without much consideration for any deeper spiritual meaning, he said.
“What we’re after when we teach (the faithful) the truth, teach faith, teach doctrine, teach theology, is not information, but integration,” Father Soo said. “The idea is to bring you deeper into the light of God and transform your lives in the Spirit, not just give factoids.”
“So what we’re after is not blind belief,” said Father Soo. “What we’re after is a working, living relationship with God. When you’re in a relationship, you don’t simply know facts about one another, you’re living together, loving each other, and forgiving each other. That’s what we’re after in the spiritual life.”
The word “Sacrament” was adapted fairly late in the Christian tradition, he said, with the word “Mystery” used in the Bible instead.
“In the Bible, the Sacraments are related to the word ‘economia’ (sacramental economy, CCC 1076), which means God’s plan of salvation,”said Father Soo. “For us, each particular Holy Mystery (Sacrament) is representative of this saving plan of God and salvation.”
Each Sacrament leads back to the plan of salvation and its “bottom line, Jesus the Messiah.”
Michael Goco, President of the Newman Association, organized the event in honour of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25.
“In some ways we are hosting this event to appreciate further the traditions of the East,” he said. “We in the West certainly have a lot to learn from their spiritual heritage.”
Goco also noted the need to appreciate the differences between the two Churches. “The Second Vatican Council declared that the members of the Churches of the East certainly ‘should know and be convinced that they can and should always preserve their legitimate liturgical rite and their established way of life’ (Orientalium Ecclesiarum),” he said.
“In this way the Universal Church boasts not only of its appreciation of her Eastern patrimony, but also of its acknowledgement that this ancient and apostolic heritage that is the tradition of the Eastern Churches truly is part of what makes our Church Catholic.”
