From Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to 49th Eucharistic Congress in Quebec - Part 1

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 Quebec City.

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.

Above from:  Catholic Education.Org - Article

The Priest is the man of the Eucharist

“Towards a Renewed Vision of Priestly Ministry and Identity”

Fr Tom Rosica CSB,

Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation, Canada

at Eucharistic Congress Dublin, 2012.

To properly understand the priest as a man of the Eucharist, we must first understand the notion of sacrifice in the New Testament.  The word ‘sacrifice’ describes the self-giving of Jesus and the Christian. Jesus' self-giving was a dedication of himself to the Father on behalf of all people. The sacrifice of the Christian consists in the giving of oneself in union with Jesus. The Eucharist is a summary of Jesus' life, a call to lay down one's life for others. The laying down of Jesus' life for the whole of humankind is not simply a gift but that which gives life; he dies in order to live and give life. Thus the body of Jesus was not simply slain, but "given for you." In fact, Paul's consistent emphasis is that Christ died "for others" (I Corinthians 8:11; Thessalonians 5:10), which in turn also shows us the way God wants us to live. "He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves" (II Corinthians 5:15).

If we are to become authentic priests of Jesus Christ, we must become people who are living  sacrifices; people who are grateful and live lives of  gratitude. It is a terrible disjunction to preside at the Eucharist and to be someone without a grateful heart. To be a priest fully is to be a grateful person.  When we receive the Eucharist, we partake of the one who becomes food and drink for others. So must it be for us who receive the Lord’s body and blood: our lives, too, must become a feast for the poor. We too must become food and drink for the hungry.

The pillar of the renewal of priestly life is the liturgy.  If the priest does not rediscover the true meaning of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, he cannot find himself.  The protagonist of the liturgy is Christ, not the Pope, the Cardinals in Rome, and not even the parish priest.  By living the liturgy, we can enter into the life of God, and only thus can we priests journey effectively with the men and women of our time and of all time. Nevertheless the liturgical reform must concern itself not only with texts and ceremonies, rubrics and rituals,  external appearances, but also with the spiritual hungers of human communities that we serve.  Without authentic evangelization, participation in the liturgy is ultimately hollow– an aesthetic pastime or a momentary palliative; without the works of justice and charity, participation in the liturgy is ultimately deceptive, playing church rather than being church.

Full Text can be viewed at:  http://www.iec2012.ie/media/Level2RosicaThursdayENG1.pdf

Closing Mass at Eucharistic Congress

The Closing Mass at the Eucharistic Congress was not without some criticism.  For me watching it on TV, I was very disappointed to see so many Eucharistic Ministers distributing Holy Communion in the presence of almost 1,000 Priests.  An interesting article you may wish to read comes from Mgr Andrew Wadsworth, head of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)...


Link below


http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/333/18

Image from: http://www.demotix.com/news/1281668/eucharistic-congress-closes-open-air-mass

Redemptionis Sacramentum - Part 29

3. Eucharistic Congresses and Eucharistic Processions

[142.] “It is for the diocesan Bishop to establish regulations about processions in order to provide for participation in them and for their being carried out in a dignified way”[241] and to promote adoration by the faithful.

[143.] “Wherever it is possible in the judgement of the diocesan Bishop, a procession through the public streets should be held, especially on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ as a public witness of reverence for the Most Holy Sacrament”,[242] for the “devout participation of the faithful in the eucharistic procession on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is a grace from the Lord which yearly fills with joy those who take part in it”.[243]

[144.] Although this cannot be done in some places, the tradition of holding eucharistic processions should not be allowed to be lost. Instead, new ways should be sought of holding them in today’s conditions: for example, at shrines, or in public gardens if the civil authority agrees.

[145.] The pastoral value of Eucharistic Congresses should be highly esteemed, and they “should be a genuine sign of faith and charity”.[244] Let them be diligently prepared and carried out in accordance with what has been laid down,[245] so that Christ’s faithful may have the occasion to worship the sacred mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Son of God in a worthy manner, and that they may continually experience within themselves the fruits of the Redemption.[246]