Vatican II at 50 - The Cup We Drink
When you grow up in an Italian family as I did, special meals always included wine. Wine meant gathering, celebration, friendship and intimacy. Because drinking wine was often associated with holy days like Christmas and Easter, wine also symbolized a connection to God. It’s no mere coincidence that wine has played a significant role in salvation history. There are numerous stories about wine and vines in the Hebrew Scriptures. The vineyard is a symbol of Israel, God’s chosen people. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals himself as the true vine and us as the branches, calling us to remain in him and bear fruit.
One of the ways we remain in Jesus is to drink from the cup at Mass. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Take and drink.” And for the first 600 years the Church did. But the Middle Ages witnessed a decline in the use of the cup. Controversies arose over whether the laity or only the priest should drink from the cup. In the 16th century, the Council of Trent affirmed that the cup was to be reserved only for the clergy. For the next 400 years it was—until the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II restored the laity to drink from the cup at the discretion of the local bishop. Subsequent documents have encouraged the laity to take from the cup with this explanation:
Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it is distributed under both kinds. For in this form the sign of the eucharistic banquet is more clearly evident and clear expression is given to the divine will by which the new and eternal Covenant is ratified in the Blood of the Lord. GIRM #281
Drinking from the cup, then, offers us the profound opportunity to profess our share in the Covenant and to be filled with the very life force of Jesus, filling the world with a faith that, like wine, only improves with time. Amen!
