Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On the Sunday on which several countries celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi (or 'Corpus Domini), “ the feast of the Eucharist, in which the sacrament of the Lord's Body is carried solemnly in procession,” the Holy Father Benedict XVI reflected on the meaning of this feast, prior to the recitation of the Angelus. Addressing the faithful gathered in Saint Peter's Square, on June 14, the Pope highlighted that “'Corpus Domini' is a day that involves the cosmic dimension, heaven and earth. It evokes, first of all -- at least in our hemisphere -- this beautiful and fragrant season in which spring finally begins the turn toward summer, the sun shines brilliantly in the heavens and the wheat matures in the fields. The seasons of the Church -- like the Jewish ones -- have to do with the rhythm of the solar year, of planting and harvesting. This dimension comes to the foreground especially in today's solemnity, in which the sign of bread, fruit of earth and of heaven, is at the center. This is why the Eucharistic bread is the sign of him in whom heaven and earth, God and man, become one. And this shows that the relationship with the seasons is not something that is merely external to the liturgical year.”
After explaining that the Solemnity of Corpus Domini is “intimately linked to Easter and Pentecost: The death and resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit are its presuppositions. It is, furthermore, linked to the feast of the Trinity,” Benedict XVI continued: “'Corpus Domini' is a manifestation of God, an attestation that God is love. In a unique and peculiar way, this feast speaks to us of divine love, of what it is and what it does...Love transforms every thing, and so we understand that the mystery of transubstantiation, the sign of Jesus-Charity, which transforms the world, is at the center of today's feast of 'Corpus Domini.' Looking upon him and worshiping him, we say: Yes, love exists, and since it exists, things can change for the better and we can hope...We all have need of this bread, because the road to freedom, justice and peace is long and wearisome.” The Pope then encouraged all to invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “Eucharistic Woman,” to learn from her “to continually renew our communion with the Body of Christ, to love each other as he loved us.”
At the close of the Marian prayer, the Holy Father mentioned the United Nations Conference on the economic and financial crisis and its impact on development, to be held in New York, June 24-26, praying that the participants and those responsible for the "res publica" and the fate of the planet, may be filled with “a spirit of wisdom and human solidarity...so that the current crisis is transformed into an opportunity to focus greater attention on the dignity of every human person and to promote an equal distribution of decisional power and resources, with particular attention to the number of those living in poverty, which, unfortunately, is always growing.” The Pope continued: “On this day in which we celebrate, in Italy and many other nations, the feast of 'Corpus Domini,' the bread of life, as I just mentioned, I would like to especially remember the hundreds of millions of persons who suffer from hunger. It is an absolutely unacceptable reality that is hard to control despite the efforts of recent decades. I hope, therefore, that at the upcoming U.N. conference and in the headquarters of international institutions the joint measures are taken by the entire international community and the strategic decisions are made -- which are sometimes difficult to accept -- that are necessary to ensure that everyone, in the present and the future, will have basic nourishment and a dignified life.”
Benedict XVI then entrusted the Year for Priests, which will begin this Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the death of the holy Curé of Ars: “May this new jubilee year be a propitious occasion to reflect on the value and importance of the priestly mission and to ask the Lord to make a gift of many priests to his Church.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/6/2009)
