The Eucharist Is Not a Meal Among Friends
POPE BENEDICT XVI
Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave via
satellite Sunday at the closing Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic
Congress. The congress was held in
While you are gathered for the 49th International
Eucharistic Congress, I am happy to join you through the medium of satellite
and thus unite myself to your prayer. I would like first of all to greet the
Lord Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec ,
and the Lord Cardinal Jozef Tomko, special envoy for the congress, as well as
all the cardinals and bishops present. I also address my cordial greetings to
the personalities of civil society who decided to take part in the liturgy. My
affectionate thought goes to the priests, deacons and all the faithful present, as well as to all Catholics of Quebec, of the whole of Canada
and of other continents. I do not forget that your country celebrates this year
the 400th anniversary of its foundation. It is an occasion for each one of you
to recall the values that animated the pioneers and missionaries in your
country.
"The Eucharist, gift of God for the Life of the World,"
this is the theme chosen for this latest International Eucharistic Congress.
The Eucharist is our most beautiful treasure. It is the sacrament par
excellence; it introduces us early into eternal life; it contains the whole
mystery of our salvation; it is the source and summit of the action and of the
life of the Church, as the Second Vatican Council recalled (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, No. 8).
It is, therefore, particularly important that pastors and
faithful dedicate themselves permanently to furthering their knowledge of this
great sacrament. Each one will thus be able to affirm his faith and fulfill
ever better his mission in the Church and in the world, recalling that there is
a fruitfulness of the Eucharist in his personal life, in the life of the Church
and of the world. The Spirit of truth gives witness in your hearts; you also
must give witness to Christ before men, as the antiphon states in the alleluia
of this Mass. Participation in the Eucharist, then, does not distance us from
our contemporaries; on the contrary, because it is the expression par
excellence of the love of God, it calls us to be involved with all our brothers
to address the present challenges and to make the planet a place where it is
good to live.
To accomplish this, it is necessary to struggle ceaselessly
so that every person will be respected from his conception until his natural
death; that our rich societies welcome the poorest and allow them their
dignity; that all persons be able to find nourishment and enable their families
to live; that peace and justice may shine in all continents. These are some of
the challenges that must mobilize all our contemporaries and for which
Christians must draw their strength in the Eucharistic mystery.
"The Mystery of Faith": this is what we proclaim
at every Mass. I would like
everyone to make a commitment to study this great mystery, especially by
revisiting and exploring, individually and in groups, the Council's text on the
Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, so as to bear witness courageously to the
mystery. In this way, each person will arrive at a better grasp of the meaning
of every aspect of the Eucharist, understanding its depth and living it with
greater intensity. Every sentence, every gesture has its own meaning and
conceals a mystery. I sincerely hope that this Congress will serve as an appeal
to all the faithful to make a similar commitment to a renewal of Eucharistic
catechesis, so that they themselves will gain a genuine Eucharistic awareness
and will in turn teach children and young people to recognize the central
mystery of faith and build their lives around it. I urge priests especially to
give due honor to the Eucharistic rite, and I ask all the faithful to respect
the role of each individual, both priest and lay, in the Eucharistic action.
The liturgy does not belong to us: it is the Church's treasure.
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