In the Spring 2001 issue of Church, a quarterly of pastoral theology and ministry John A. Coleman, S.J., contributed How the Eucharist Proclaims Social Justice. His cameo review of the history of the liturgical movement in the U.S. focuses on the movement's linking of liturgy with social action.

Parallel movements in the lay apostolate during the pre-Vatican II era also validated the nexus between liturgy and the pursuit of justice. In this regard, Father Coleman inserts a lengthy quotation from an address of the late Msgr. John Egan:

In the liturgy, properly celebrated, divisions along lines of sex, age, race or wealth are overcome. In the liturgy, properly celebrated, we discover the sacramentality of the material universe. In the liturgy, properly celebrated, we learn the ceremonies of respect both for one another and for the creation that allow us to see in people and in material goods 'fruit of the earth and work of human hands,' sacraments of a new order which we call the justice of the kingdom of God.

In addition, Father Coleman also speculates on the perceived gap in integrating liturgy, spirituality and social action. He questions whether the postconciliar American liturgy "has become just too American, mirroring widespread cultural influences such as individualism, consumerism, and the desires to be entertained and personally affirmed."

The correlation of liturgy with social justice highlights a central principle in Church social teaching: the principle of solidarity.

Sharing Catholic Social Teaching, the 1998 statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, describes solidarity as an expression of "the Catholic image of the Mystical Body, that we are one human family, regardless of our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences." The virtue of solidarity, then, entails a moral responsibility "to see others not as 'enemy' but as 'neighbor,' and it requires a just social order where goods are fairly distributed and the dignity of all is respected."

When writing of the virtue of solidarity in On Social Concern (1987), Pope John Paul II called for a religious awareness of the "neighbor" as "a sharer, on a par with ourselves, in the banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God." (SRS n.39)

The "banquet of life to which all are equally invited by God" is symbolized in a dramatic way in the celebration of the Christian Eucharist. The Eucharist is a privileged sacramental moment when the culture of solidarity is reflected in the sharing both of spiritual gifts and of material goods.

This social dimension of worship and prayer was emphasized in Economic Justice for All (1986), the pastoral letter of the U.S. bishops on the economy. (EJ nn. 329-331) In unifying worship and work, the liturgy empowers those sharing in Communion "to work to heal the brokenness of society and human relationships and to grow in the spirit of self-giving to others.” (EJ n. 330)

A grateful heart, nurtured by the spirit of the liturgy, moves participants "from self-seeking to a spirituality that sees signs of true discipleship in our sharing of goods and working for justice." (EJ n.331)

In May of 1998, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter entitled Dies Domini --- On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy. Within the broader themes of Sunday as a day of joy and rest, the Holy Father names Sunday as "a Day of Solidarity." (DD nn.69-73)

Following an insight from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Pope John Paul II expounds the meaning of Sunday as a special time for dedication to "works of charity, of mercy, of apostolic outreach." Works of mercy, charity, and apostolic life flow from Jesus' new commandment," to love one another "as I have loved you." (Jn 15: 10-12) In this way, the faithful encounter the joy of the Risen Lord which is linked to the "new commandment." (DD n. 69)

The Sunday Eucharist opens the believing heart "to embrace all aspects of the church," especially the apostolic summons of St. Paul to create a "culture of sharing." (1 Cor 16:2) Moreover, the apostolic tradition confirms the Sunday Eucharist as being lived out as "a moment of fraternal sharing with the poor." (DD n.70)

The Sunday Eucharist enjoins Catholics to be aware of "the duty to make the Eucharist the place where fraternity becomes practical solidarity, where the last are first in the minds and attention of the brethren, where Christ himself ---through the generous gifts from the rich to the poor ---may somehow prolong in time the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves." (DD n.71)

On Keeping the Lord's Day Holy challenges Catholics to make the Lord's Day "a more intense time of sharing, encouraging all the inventiveness of which Christian charity is capable." Inviting the lonely to a meal, visitation of the sick, or volunteer work, all exemplify ways in which "a tide of charity" can originate from the lives of the baptized. (DD n. 72)

The Sunday Eucharist, therefore, should be a "great school of charity, justice and peace." It should be a moment when Catholics can undergo deepening conversion in order to confront the structures of sin which assault human dignity and entrap impoverished people unjustly. (DD n.73)

Pope John Paul II concludes his reflections by referring to the Sunday celebration as "a 'prophecy' inscribed on time itself." That prophetic dimension challenges the followers of Jesus "to follow the footsteps of the One who came "to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk 4:18-19)."(DD n.73)

This Lucan passage recounting the inaugural sermon of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth was a key text in the Holy Father's interpretation of the commemoration of the Jubilee Year 2000. Thus, in Tertio Millennio Adveniente (1994), Pope John Paul II had associated that defining moment in the public ministry of Jesus with the biblical custom of Jubilees. (TMA n. 11) Since the jubilee year was a summons to restore justice, the Holy Father comments that the social doctrine of the Church discovers its roots in the tradition of the jubilee year. (TMA n.13)

In the words of John A. Coleman, S.J., the Benedictine liturgist, Virgil Michel, the pioneer of the liturgical movement, had advocated, "any renewed liturgical participation demands responsible Christians who unite the table of the Eucharist with the table of ordinary life."

In each celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, the transformation of worship into "a great school of charity, justice and peace" remains an ongoing challenge to translate "the banquet of the Lord" into "the banquet of life."