CHAPTER 4: MONASTIC VOCATION WITH ECUMENICAL IMPLICATIONS 151 specific forms of spirituality in collective moments of worship in an effort to recognize personal sensibilities. The monasteries thus function as hubs or nodes in the network of Christian churches and traditions. Various themes that have started to emerge in the current chapter will be reviewed in more detail in the next chapters. The dynamics of the common life, and especially its relation to sharing the Eucharist, is further discussed in Chapter 5. The monastics refuse to interpret their own life and Eucharistic practice as a model but rather speak of it as being a sign. The implications of this self-understanding will be explored in depth in Chapter 6. The fact that the monastics not only see the similarities between Roman Catholic and other Eucharistic liturgies but that they tend to acknowledge their validity beyond the Roman Catholic Church has significant implications for their understanding of ecclesial boundaries and belonging. These issues will be examined in Chapter 7. It is also an essential part of how they look at the Eucharist itself; one of the insights that the monastics articulate is that the Eucharist is a radically non- or super-denominational category. This, and other ways in which the monastics understand and position the Eucharist, will be presented in Chapter 8.
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