Articles

Romano Guardini, Bonaventure, and a Eucharistic Theology of Hope

Thomas Anthony Piolata, OFM Cap.

Abstract

Thomas Anthony Piolata, OFM Cap., develops a "Eucharistic theology of hope" by synthesizing Romano Guardini’s Christological ecclesiology with Saint Bonaventure’s sacramental doctrine. He argues that the Eucharist provides essential "contemporaneity" with Christ, drawing believers into the mystical body en route to eschatological glory. Ultimately, the Eucharist mediates the Holy Spirit—the animator of hope—transforming human restlessness into a certain future that overcomes the finality of death.