Self-Emptying Love

Abstract

Contemporary religious believers tend to conceive of the sacraments as objective expressions of grace distinct from their ritual enactment and often exclusive of ethical obligations. Ecclesial structures have reinforced these understandings by associating the sacraments with Christological interpretations that diminish the active participation of Christians in worship by emphasizing Christ's eminence and power. By highlighting Christ's self-emptying love in the act of kenosis, I argue for new Christological understandings to support ongoing liturgical and ecclesial renewal. My research explores two major areas: the resurgence of sacramental theology after Vatican II, especially within the work of Chauvet, and the rise of a critical theology of the cross in the writings of Jürgen Moltmann and its kenotic implications for the church. By bringing together these two areas, I argue for an alternative sacramental framework that combines internal conceptions of grace with outward expressions of meaning that bear fruit in liturgical inculturation and acts of solidarity. This dissertation begins with a study of the liturgical renewal following Vatican II and its world-wide implementation. I pay special attention to the development of postconciliar liturgical renewal in light of the principle of active participation (actuosa participatio) in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, and examine the relationship of structuralist approaches to liturgy to Christology. In chapter two, I explore sources for Christology that point to fresh understandings about the nature and person of Christ and the work of salvation. In chapters three and four, I present a thorough study of the work of Louis-Marie Chauvet on the sacraments, and Jürgen Moltmann on the cross. In doing so, I construct a relationship between sacraments and Christology centered on Christ's kenosis as a means of supporting ongoing liturgical and ecclesial renewal. In the final chapter, I explore how kenotic Christology can shape our understanding of the liturgy and contribute to greater inculturation in worship and acts of solidarity in the world. I conclude by proposing new ways to think about the liturgy that may become the ground for future ecclesial transformation.