The 20th-century French Jesuit priest, Jean Daniélou (1905-1974), along with his former teacher and fellow Jesuit, Henri de Lubac (1896-1991), established the Sources Chrétiennes series, a bilingual collection of texts from the Church Fathers. In a preface for one of the initial volumes on St. Gregory of Nyssa, the editors of this series articulate the rationale for the collection: “to provide a number of readers a direct access to these ‘sources,’ always overflowing with spiritual life and theological doctrine.” One of the main achievements of the 20th-century ressourcement was a renewed interest in delving into the primary texts of the Church Fathers. The most recent work of Kenneth J. Howell, John Chrysostom: Theologian of the Eucharist, is a welcome answer to this ongoing call to return to the sources. Howell’s work is one of the few to focus exclusively on the teaching of St. John Chrysostom on the Holy Eucharist. Specifically, Howell is able to explain how people could enter in the mystery of the Eucharist with the witness of their lives.
Howell is to be commended for shedding light on why and how Chrysostom merits the title “Doctor of the Eucharist.” This work demonstrates how Chrysostom “believed deeply in Christ’s bodily presence in the Eucharist, how that presence was sacrificial, and how the liturgy manifested that presence to the world. All this John Chrysostom put at the service of moral admonition leading to spiritual transformation (24). Consistently, Howell outlines the practical implications of the Holy Eucharist, which “is based on a simple truth that the Eucharist is the continuation of the earthly life of Jesus Christ embodied in the liturgy of the Church” (24). This understanding of Chrysostom’s Eucharistic doctrinal works frames the division of Howell’s book into three main parts: I) Anticipation (Chapters 1-3); II) Presence (Chapters 4-5); and III) Participation (Chapters 6-9).
Sharp Axes
There are two key concepts that are foundational to comprehend Howell’s work: the Axis of Anticipation and the Axis of Participation. The old covenant via the unfolding of salvation history serves as the Axis of Anticipation of the new covenant whose heart is the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. The celebration of the sacred liturgy, the sacraments, and preaching form the Axis of Participation that enable Christians to participate in the Paschal Mystery. These axes serve as keys to unlock the meaning and rationale for St. John Chrysostom’s Eucharistic theology. Throughout the text, Howell keeps the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist rooted in the celebration of the sacred liturgy because it is the means by which the Axis of Participation comes to fruition through the deification of the faithful.
The liturgy is presented as both an anticipation and participation in the eschatological banquet. Howell contends that much of Chrysostom’s preaching is invitatory because he is calling upon the faithful to enter into the liturgy as the meeting between heaven and earth. In a homily on 1 Corinthians, Chrysostom extends an invitation into the heavenly liturgy with great fervor: “This mystery here makes earth heaven for you. Fling open the gates of heaven and look in. Or rather not those of heaven but of the heaven of heavens. That which is the most precious of all is lying on earth…. Do you know how you see what is more precious than all on earth? And you not only see it, you can touch it. And not only touch but eat it. Wash your soul clean. Prepare your mind for the reception of these mysteries” (48).
God in his love for humanity (what St. John Chrysostom refers to as his philanthrophia) offers us the gift of the sacred liturgy as a means of participating in both a foretaste and realization of the heavenly banquet. Throughout his volume, Howell draws upon Chrysostom’s homilies to demonstrate that the raison d’être for his preaching is to invite the faithful into the eschatological glory of the liturgy over the lure of the temporal riches of this world.
Past Present
While Howell very aptly demonstrates that Chrysostom consistently sets our sights to seek that which is above and not of this earth (Colossians 3:1-2), he also highlights that daily living for the Christian should be rooted in the remembrance (anamnesis) of the life and salvific work of Jesus Christ. Anamnesis is not reductive to the mental recollection of what took place in the past. Howell contends that in the patristic tradition, “Anamnesis meant making present the salvific work of Christ so that the worshiping community may be drawn into that work and enjoy its benefits” (286). This pattern of remembrance is already present in the life of Israel as they continue to remember the gift of the Exodus. The celebration of the sacred liturgy is the ultimate anamnesis for we experience “the redemption of Christ as much as when it was accomplished” (287). St. John Chrysostom, along with the patristic tradition, would never even countenance the separation between the historical Jesus from the Eucharist and the liturgy. Chrysostom, in Howell’s assessment, surpasses many of the Church Fathers (both East and West) in the depth of spiritual theology by which he analyzes Christ’s birth, his baptism, his healings, and the Resurrection in view of the “cross as the apex and triumph of Christ over the forces of evil” (86).
Prima facie, Chrysostom does not develop a doctrine of real presence, yet Howell very successfully makes the argument for the true presence of the earthly Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Howell contends that “John [Chrysostom] was fully convinced of the Eucharist as a true and proper sacrifice to God the Father because all that Christ was on earth, including his death and resurrection, are present now in the privileged moment (kairos) of the Church’s worship” (118). Throughout his preaching, Chrysostom will present the Pascha of Christ as the same Pascha celebrated in the liturgy. This will become a foundational point in Chrysostom’s theology of sacrifice, which he articulates with great clarity when he preaches on the Letter to the Hebrews: “The one Christ is offered everywhere, being fully present here and there, one body. As he who is offered in many places is one body and there are not many bodies, thus also there is only one sacrifice” (141). There is a great emphasis on the unity between the many liturgies and the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. The rich theology of sacrifice in Chrysostom’s thought offers us a fuller picture of the presence of both the earthly Jesus and his redemptive triumph and further invitation to transform one’s life in view of the life of Jesus.
Grudge Match
One of the major contributions in plumbing the depths of the spiritual insight within Chrysostom’s Eucharistic theology is Howell’s treatment of the theme of the demon of Mnesikakia (μνησικακία), which literally is translated as “‘the remembrance of evil’ and is sometimes translated ‘remembrance of injury,’ ‘nursing grudges,’ or ‘resentment’” (231). This vice is one of the most destructive, in Chrysostom’s view, because it prevents a person from forgiving another person and prevents him from receiving the gift of salvation. In a homily on the Letter to the Hebrews, Chrysostom contends, “Remembrance of evil is not small but a great sin. For ‘remembering evil is a way to death’ and ‘the one who is angry with his brother for no reason will be liable to Gehenna’” (251). Mnesikakia is clearly a focus on one’s self, so the only antidote is self-giving love, which flows from the Eucharist: “The gift of Christ in the Eucharist is the supreme gift of self. It provides both model and impetus to give of oneself to others, especially to those who are less fortunate. Love that does not affect one’s relations with others is not genuine love. Love that is not compassionate is not love” (256).
The other insightful contribution in this volume is Howell’s illumination of the social implications of the Holy Eucharist in Chrysostom’s theology. The Eucharist is “the source and summit of service to the needy of the world. If a Christian desires to minister to the needs of those less fortunate, that Christian must be grounded in and nourished by the eucharistic mystery” (261). Contrary to the tendency to separate liturgy from concern for those in need, Chrysostom articulates a consistent Eucharistic theology of charity. In a homily focused on Matthew 25, Chrysostom admonishes and exhorts the faithful: “If you see a man clothed in rags and freezing cold, but you do not give him clothing, while you prepare golden columns [for the church], claiming to do this in [Christ’s] honor, would he not say that you pretended ignorance and think it an extreme insult?” (263). While it might be tempting to see almsgiving and worship as mutually exclusive, the reality is that love for Christ in the Eucharist demands us to give of ourselves charitably to others.
Cohesive Tapestry
Kenneth Howell’s work is a welcome addition to the ongoing scholarship in the new ressourcement. Howell writes in a clear and simple prose, which makes this work accessible to both academics and everyday lay persons. Howell draws upon a wealth of homiletic material from Chrysostom that is presented in English for the first time. This work also has a dialogical character that places Chrysostom’s work in relation to the writings of other Church Fathers (both East and West) and St. Thomas Aquinas. There is also great ecumenical potential for this work as Howell is able to show continuity between the wisdom of the East and the West. In one of his chapters, Howell includes an interlude that argues for a great unity between the epiclesis (as emphasized by the Church in the East) and the words of institution (as emphasized by the Church in the West) in the transformation of the bread and wine into the Holy Eucharist. This book should have a place in any seminary and university class focused on patristics, the Eucharist, or the sacred liturgy.
Howell’s work is clearly the fruit of serious scholarship, prayer, and worship. Consequently, Howell is able to weave together St. John Chrysostom’s doctrine on the Eucharist (lex credendi) and the liturgy (lex orandi) into a cohesive theological tapestry. Above all, the theology of the Holy Eucharist must be lived by each of the faithful through a life of virtue that culminates in charity (lex vivendi). Hopefully, Howell’s work will inspire a renewed interest in the theology of St. John Chrysostom and a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist as a sacrament of healing of division and resentment. This is noteworthy because it serves as a model for scholars seeking to develop a theology on the knees that assists the faithful to become a truly living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).
