ASIA/TAIWAN - Cardinal Tomko in Kaohsiung: “What the Church today should fear is not persecution, but becoming tasteless...To give taste to the world, means showing people the paths of the Lord's salvation.”

Taipei (Agenzia Fides) - “Christ is the light. Christ entrusted to his disciples the mission to be light. In our society today many young people, many adults, men and women of culture, seek the way to salvation and they look to the Church.” These were the words of Cardinal Jozef Tomko during the Mass he presided in Kaohsiung on November 23, for the closing celebrations for the 150th Anniversary of the Evangelization of Taiwan.
The Cardinal celebrated a Mass “for the Evangelization of Peoples” and in his homily reflected on Christ's mandate made to His disciples to be “salt and light” for the world. “To give taste to the world, means showing people the paths of the Lord's salvation. This is a great responsibility. What the Church today should fear is not persecution, since the cross reveals God's Love, she should fear becoming tasteless, failing to offer convincing witness that the Cross, every Cross, in Christ, can be a glorious source of salvation,” he said.
The mystery of Christ's death and resurrection should become present to every generation and is made present through our martyrdom, the Cardinal explained. It is a a martyrdom that we receive from our brethren or one that is inherent to our life condition. Participating in Christ's passion and resurrection, “we become channels through which the Redemption he achieved is revealed, shared and offered to all mankind.” With His resurrection, Christ has overcome death and given life to those who lived in the shadow of death. The Cardinal said that “when we share in the Body and Blood of Christ,” the celebration places in us that fundamental principle of transformation “which changes death into life, hatred into love.”
In the Eucharistic Celebration, the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and are given to us, so that we can also be transformed. “This is the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ: the capacity (Divine Agape) to transform from within violence, hatred, death, into life, into love...Nourished by Christ we are his disciples and we receive the mission to be the “soul” of our city leaven of renewal, bread 'broken' and shared for all, especially for those who suffer from poverty, hardship or spiritual or material poverty. Nourished by Christ we become witnesses of his love, light and salt for the world.”
In the concluding part of his homily, Cardinal Tomko especially addressed priests, reminding them that their “priestly service” that the Lord calls them to is not only a “ritual as you preside the Liturgy, it is an existential service of offering your life for the world, carrying the sin of the world.” He then spoke with emphasis: “To become Eucharist! May this be our constant concern and commitment, so that the offering of the Lord's body and blood on the altar may be accompanied by the sacrifice of our life.” Lastly, he reflected on the risk of a creeping secularization within the Church: “There is a risk that prayer may be become brief, superficial, hurried, that we give more time to earthly activities and concerns or focus only on the ritual aspect of the liturgy rather than its existential nature.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 23/11/2009)