CHAPTER 2: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY 61 2 A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY: ARTICULATING PRACTICES, EXPERIENCES, AND IMPLICATIONS he ecumenical “intermediate situation between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’”156 as described in Chapter 1, the liminal phase in which the practice of Eucharistic hospitality takes place, comes with its own challenges, but certainly also with opportunities and potential. This study focuses on the latter, following the observation of Dillen and Gärtner (already mentioned above): Places or periods in between two things are places or phases of uncertainty and transition, but they can also be places where creativity emerges, where new ideas are given scope to develop, where experiments can happen with other visions and practices.157 The exceptional practice of Eucharistic hospitality in Taizé and Bose (communities that find themselves in such a liminal situation) can be reviewed from various angles. It can be addressed from a canonical point of view: is this practice in line with canon law and other ecclesial regulations and should it therefore be encouraged or discouraged by church leadership? Another perspective would be that of “blueprint” ecclesiology, as Nicholas Healy calls it: the theoretical and idealistic thinking about the church that can offer a critical reflection on the concrete and historical manifestation of the church.158 This research, however, takes yet another perspective. In accordance with Healy’s criticism of blueprint ecclesiology, this study starts from an actual practice in the church. Healy writes: “in general ecclesiology in our period has become highly systematic and theoretical, focused more upon discerning the right 156 Kasper, “Present Situation.” 157 Dillen and Gärtner, Discovering Practical Theology: Exploring Boundaries, 4. 158 Cf. Nicholas M. Healy, Church, World, and the Christian Life: Practical-Prophetic Ecclesiology, Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 36–38. T
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw