Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
In this presentation, I explore the relation between discipleship as solidarity and Eucharist. To this end, the Gospel of Luke sets the scriptural parameters, as the story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus and their experience of recognizing Jesus at table in the breaking of bread is narrated only in this Gospel. Written in the final decades of the first century and addressed to a community of mixed social and economic standing, Luke’s narrative has come under critique for its tendency to convey double-messages and its ambiguity toward women and the poor. New Testament scholar Sharon Ringe has argued that Luke “pulled his punches:” Luke speaks about the poor, but he speaks to the rich; he emphasizes charity, but seems not to advocate change in repressive political and economic arrangements. We too live in a powerful nation of increasingly deep and wide social and economic disparities and divisions. This gospel raises as many questions for us as it seeks to answer: How are we to live if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus? Do we speak truth to power or pull our punches? What does it mean for us to be the body of Christ?
Recommended Citation
Copeland, M. Shawn, "To Be the Body of Christ: Discipleship (Solidarity) and Eucharist" (2019). Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers. 134.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/ils_papers/134
