Symbol or Sign: Is this article correct?

[Neil_Anthony]

I got a pamphlet in the mail along with my missallette and it says this:

"**Why does a sacrament rely on symbols to convey its meaning?
**
A symbol is a sign that holds together the mystery of God’s presence which we cannot see with our eyes and the visible, tangible realities that we can experience. Symbols convey more than we can express in words. The flag that brings to us the whole experience of being a citizen, the picture of the twisted wreckage of Ground Zero on 9/11, the wedding ring a spouse wears all help us connect with something that is too rich for words. In the sacraments, Christ’s presence establishes, maintains and nurtures our communion with him and with others. When the community performs these symbolic actions, the reality they represent actually occurs.

What important symbols are used in the Mass?

There are several symbols that help us understand the underlying meaning of the parts of the Mass. The gathered assembly symbolizes all God’s people living in right relationship and striving for holiness. The scriptural words we hear proclaimed remind us of God’s abiding presence in our lives. The bread and wine we bring to the altar symbolize our lives - all our joys and sorrows, triumphs and tragedies, successes and struggles, passion and pain. Our gifts are offered to God, who accepts them, transforms them into Christ’s own body and blood, and gives them back to us when we receive Holy Communion."

Is it okay to use sign and symbol in this way? I thought the bread and wine were signs, not symbols?

 

[teachccd]

I believe that this article uses the term “symbols” in a correct manner. It doesn’t seem to convey that the consecrated elements remain symbolic which would be incorrect…teachccd

 

[Mintaka]

Bread and wine, as bread and wine and as offertory gifts, are both signs and symbols. They symbolize any number of things. (Pick your own, as well as going with the traditions and Tradition of the Church.)

But they are signs because God told us to offer bread and wine, and used that offering as a sign and foreshadowing throughout the history of salvation.

This isn’t a very good explanation, I know, but you can see the general drift.

 

[rwoehmke]

It is very close to what I teach Boy Scouts working on an Ad Alteri Dei award. They are able to grasp it quite well. Maybe older folks need a richer broth than this simple explication. Check it against the Baltimore Catechism’s definition of a sacrament.Unlessmy memory fails, I think it fits.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Hmm okay. Well I’m glad to hear that.

 

[FRATER_PAVLVS]

But what is the alternative?

 

[Neil_Anthony]

But what is the alternative?

I guess I just don’t like that the Real Presence teaching is hidden in subtitles called "“Why does a sacrament rely on symbols to convey its meaning?” and “What important symbols are used in the Mass?” as if somehow the real presence fits into those headings.

 

[teachccd]

I guess I just don’t like that the Real Presence teaching is hidden in subtitles called "“Why does a sacrament rely on symbols to convey its meaning?” and “What important symbols are used in the Mass?” as if somehow the real presence fits into those headings.

While it is correct to use the term “symbol” in the way that the article states, I am also very cautious when I teach the Junior High kids regarding that term. It is used in the chapter on the Eucharist in our workbooks but I really stress “the how” it is used and that the Eucharist in no way a symbolic gesture.

This would be confusing to even the average pewsitter who might be on the fence with the Real Presence. So, while those of us who delve into the theology of the Real Presence know that the symbols of bread and wine are used, we must be very careful in our catechesis as to how this is expressed and utilized post-consecration.

The evangelist, John, actually uses the term “signs” to convey all of Jesus’ miracles and we are never to understand them as something that didn’t actually occur but, more, as something that points to something even greater…God Bless…teachccd