"Rafael Avila makes an excellent contribution to sacramental theology within the setting of the church's pastoral ministry. He moves the new studies in the sociological origins of Israel into the area of Israel's liturgy and then points out the parallels with the activity of Jesus and the early church. He shows that liturgy and Eucharist did not appear directly by divine revela-tion but developed out of a keen perception of God's presence in the socio-political process of helping the poor and the op-pressed. Eucharist then has a biblical mandate to remain close to the suffering body of Christ in the oppressed."

Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P., Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Editor of The Bible Today

"The significance of Avila's essay is not his critique of con-temporary theology and practice, but rather his proposed design of a Eucharist for the future. He refers to it as a 'design of a Eucharist for Latin America, but the implications of what he outlines reach far beyond the geographical, cultural, or sec-tarian-limits of that continent."

Alan Neely, from the Foreword