In this book argues one area that needs serious reform is in our understanding of the Eucharist. Failure to do so has led to the drop in number of Catholics attending Sunday mass on a regular basis. In fact recent statistics reveal worldwide only 15-20% of Catholics attend Sunday Mass. In Europe it is much less. Vat. II was an effort on the part of the Church to look with a critical eye at the church and try to rediscover the roots in which the whole church thing is grounded. Did the council succeed in this task? Probably not. Certainly not entirely. What it did succeed in doing was to offer some important perspective giving directives for its future renewal. With regard to the Eucharist, for older Catholics, the teaching on the Eucharist which we have inherited is a result of the Council of Trent. Unfortunately so. This is not to dispute what Trent taught, or to imply that it was incorrect. It is to make the point that Trent made no effort to give us a complete and adequate understanding of the Eucharist. It consciously limited itself to affirming those aspects of our Eucharistic tradition that were being denied by the Protestants.
Since Vatican II, we now approach the Scriptures from a more historical-critical perspective and treat them as valuable sources in their own right. This point amply made clear in the first two chapters, by reminding us that the Bible is not primarily a history book. It gives us a religious or theological appreciation of what has happened in what we now call salvation history. Thus, it is possible for us to go beyond the biblical text were to try to recapture the historical background of our Eucharistic tradition. This recapturing is necessary if we are to appreciate the great wealth and richness embodied in the Eucharist. The diversity which was obtained in the early Church, for example, is a testimony not only to the development of Eucharistic thought, but to the ability of the Eucharistic action itself to embody everything to make it the source and summit of Christian life in every age and place.
One of , if not the central theme of this book is that now is the time for us to return to our foundation roots which is the life and teaching of the Historical Jesus and the early Christians. This is the only way through which we could have a meaningful understanding of the Eucharist and letting it be truly the source and summit of the life of the church.
Thus for the early Church, the Lord's self-giving action that was being memorialized (Do this in remembrance of me.") We are not challenged simply to repeat his words, or institute a ritual action but we are asked to do as he did and to offer our lives that others may live. So to bring people back to church, the Eucharist needs to be renewed and restructured giving meaning to the life and teaching of the historical Jesus enlightening Catholics to be the light to our fallen world.
