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CORPUS DOMINI 2009
At the Lateran Basilica:
Here is a full translation of the Holy Fahter's homily tonight:
THE HOLY FATHER'S HOMILY
"This is my body, this is my blood".
Dear brothers and sisters,
These words which Jesus pronounced at the Last Supper are repeated every time that the Eucharistic Sacrifice is renewed.
We heard it just now in the Gospel of Mark and they resound with singular evocative power today, the Solemnity of Corpus Domini. They lead us ideally to the Cenacle - they make us relive the spiritual atmosphere of that night when, celebrating Passover with his own people, the Lord anticipated in the mystery the sacrifice which would be consummated the following day on the Cross.
The institution of the Eucharist thUs seems to us like the anticipation and acceptance of his death on the part of Jesus. St. Ephrem the Syrian writes about this: "During the supper, Jesus immolated himself; on the Cross he was immolated by others" (cfr Hymn ON n the Crucifixion 3,1).
"This is my blood".
The reference to the sacrificial language of Israel is clear here. Jesus presents himself as the true and definitive sacrifice in which is realized the expiation of sins, which in the rites of the Old Testament, was never totally fulfilled.
Above all, Jesus says that his blood is "shed for many", with an understandable reference to the songs of the Servant which are found in the book of Isaiah (cfr Chap. 53).
By adding the words 'blood of the covenant', Jesus moreover manifests that, thanks to his death, the prophecy of the new alliance, founded on the faithfulness and the infinite love of the Son who became man, is realized - an alliance that is stronger than all the sins of mankind.
The old covenant was sanctioned on Sinai by a sacrificial rite of animals, as we heard in the First Reading, and the chosen people, freed from slavery in Egypt, had promised to follow all the commandments given by the Lord (cfr Ex 24,3).
In fact, Israel almost immediately - with the construction of the calf of gold - showed itself incapable of being faithful to this promise and therefore to the covenant, which instead it subsequently transgressed often, adapting to its heart of stone the Law which should have taught it the way of life.
But the Lord never fell short of his promise and through the prophets, he set about to recover the interior dimension of the alliance, and announced that he had written a new one in the hearts of the faithful (cfr Jer 31,33), transforming them with the gift of the Spirit (cfr Ez 36,25-27).
It was at the Last Supper that he sealed this new alliance with his disciples and with mankind, confirming it, not with the sacrifice of animals as in the past, but rather with his blood that had become the "blood of the new covenant'. Thus, the basis, as I said earlier, of the expiation of all our sins.
This is very evident in the second Reading, taken from the Letter to teh Hebrews, where the sacred author declares that Jesus is the 'mediator of a new covenant' (9,15).
He became so, thanks to his blood, or more exactly, thanks to his gift of himself, which gives full value to the shedding of his blood.
On the Cross, Jesus is at the same time victim and priest: a victim worthy of God because he is spotless, and the high priest who offers himself, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and intercedes for all mankind.
Thus, the Cross is a mystery of love and salvation that purifies us - as the Letter to the Hebrews says - of 'dead works', namely, of sins, and sanctifies us by sculpting the new alliance in our heart.
The Eucharist, which renders the sacrifice of the Cross actual, makes us capable of living faithfully our communion with God.
Dear brothers and sisters - whom I greet with affection, starting with the Cardinal Vicar and the other cardinals and bishops present - like the Chosen People gathered together in Sinai, tonight we, too, wish to reaffirm our fidelity to the Lord.
A few days ago, in opening the annual diocesan convention, I recalled the importance of remaining, as a Church, in attentive listening to the Word of God in prayer and reading Scripture, especially with the practice of lectio divina, the meditated and worshipful reading of the Bible.
I know that in this regard, so many initiatives have been promoted in the parishes, in seminaries, in the religious communities, and within confraternities, associations and apostolic movements which enrich our diocesan community. To the members of these multiple ecclesial organisms, I address my fraternal greeting.
Your presence in large numbers at this celebration, dear friends, highlights that our community, characterized by a plurality of cultures and different experiences, is formed by God as 'his' people, as the one Body of Christ, thanks to our participation in the double meal of the Word and the Eucharist.
Nourished by Christ, we, his disciples, receive the mission of being 'the soul' of this city ( cfr Letter to Diogneto, 6: ed. Funk, I, p. 400; see also Lumen gentium, 38), a ferment for renewal, bread 'broken' for all - above all for those who are in situations of need, poverty and physical and spiritual suffering. We become witnesses of his love.
I address myself particularly to you, dear priests, whom Christ has chosen, so that, together with him, you may live your life as a praiseworthy sacrifice for the salvation of the world. Only from union with Jesus Christ will you be able to draw that spiritual fecundity which generates hope in your pastoral ministry.
St. Leo the Great reminds us that "our participation in the body and blood of Christ does not aim at anything other than to become that whom we receive" (Sermo 12, De Passione 3,7, PL 54). If this is true for every Christian, it is all the more true for us priests.
To be, to become the Eucharist! May this be precisely our constant desire and effort, so that our offering of the Body and Blood of the Lord that we make on the altar may be accompanied by the sacrifice of our own existence.
Every day, we draw from the Body and Blood of Christ that free and pure love which makes us worthy to be ministers of Christ and witnesses to his joy. This is what the faithful expect of priests: the example of authentic devotion for the Eucharist.
They want to see him spend long moments of silence and adoration before Jesus as did the holy Curate of Ars, whom we will remember particularly during the imminent Year of the Priest.
St. Jean Marie Vianney liked to tell his parishioners: "Come to communion... It is true that you are not worthy, but you have need of it" (Bernard Nodet, Le curé d’Ars. Sa pensée – Son coeur, éd. Xavier Mappus, Paris 1995, p. 119).
With the consciousness that we are inadequate because of sin, but needful of nourishing ourselves from the love that the Lord offers us in the Eucharistic sacrament, let us renew our faith tonight in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We cannot take this faith for granted.
Today, there is the risk of creeping secularization even within the Church, which can translate itself to formal and empty Eucharistic worship, in celebrations devoid of that participation of the heart that is expressed in veneration and respect for the liturgy.
The temptation is always strong to reduce prayer to superficial and hurried moments, allowing oneself to be overwhelmed by earthly activities and concerns.
When shortly we shall recite the Our Father, the prayer par excellence, we will say: "Give us today our daily bread", thinking naturally of the everyday bread for us and for all men.
But this request contains something more profound. The Greek term epioúsios, which is translated as 'daily', can also refer to the bread that is 'supra-substantial', to the bread of 'the world to come'.
Some Fathers of the Church saw in it a reference to the Eucharist, the bread of eternal life, of the new world, which is given to us in the Holy Mass, so that from this moment on, the future world can begin in us.
With the Eucharist, then, heaven comes down to earth, God's tomorrow comes into the present, and it is as though time is embraced by divine eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, as it is every year, the end of this Holy Mass will lead into the traditional Eucharistic procession, and we will raise, with prayers and songs, a choral imploration to the Lord who is present in the consecrated Host.
We will say in the name of the entire city: "Stay with us, Jesus, make us a gift of yourself, and give us the bread that will nourish us for eternal life! Free this world from the poison of evil, of violence and hate which pollutes consciences, purify it with the power of your merciful love. And you, Mary, who were the 'eucharistic' lady all your life, help us to walk united towards the heavenly goal, nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, bread of eternal life and the elixir of divine immortality". Amen!
The procession to Santa Maria Maggiore:
At Santa Maria Maggiore:
NB: The Holy Fahter today wore a Roman chasuble that belonged to Paul VI and which he first wore at the Feast of the Epiphany last January. The papal chair used at the Lateran was Pius V's.
The cope he wore for the Procession and Benediction appears to be new. It has a very elegant orphrey (ornamental bands along the vertical edges) that bears his coat of arms.
The photos used here are from Gregor Kollmorgen's video-caps at
Caterina's videocap montages in this Forum's Photogallery,
the thumbnails from the Vatican Radio site,
and the Yahoo newsphoto service today which only had photographs of the procession and none of the Mass.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/06/2009 17:35] |