From Inside the Vatican magazine:
On Thursday evening, June 11 — the Solemnity of Corpus Christi,
which is celebrated on Sunday (today) in the United States, Australia,
and a number of other countries — Pope Benedict XVI, after driving in a
car from the Vatican across Rome to St. John Lateran, celebrated Mass
on the square in front of the basilica (photo), then led a Eucharistic procession to the basilica of St. Mary Major.
Today, in Belarus, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz led a similar procession for four and a half hours through the streets of Minsk, accompanied by some 10,000 Catholic faithful, despite a steady rain.
Today, in Belarus, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz led a similar procession for four and a half hours through the streets of Minsk, accompanied by some 10,000 Catholic faithful, despite a steady rain.
The ceremony of a public eucharistic procession has in recent
decades become less common, but these two processions, and many others
elsewhere, suggest the return of this manifestation of popular
eucharistic piety in the public squares of the world.
In his homily, Pope Benedict commented on the words pronounced by
priests at the moment of consecration: "This is My Body... This is My
Blood."
Addressing his remarks to priests, the Holy Father said: "Becoming
the Eucharist: let this be our constant desire and commitment!
"So that the offer of the Body and Blood of the Lord we make upon
the altar may be accompanied by the sacrifice of our own lives.
"Every day we draw from the Body and Blood of the Lord the free
and pure love that makes us worthy ministers of Christ and witnesses to
His joy. What the faithful expect from a priest is the example of
authentic devotion to the Eucharist. They like to see him spend long
periods of silence and adoration before Jesus, as did the saintly 'Cure
of Ars' whom we will especially recall during the imminent Year for
Priests."
The Pope continued: "Aware that, because of sin, we are
inadequate, yet needing to nourish ourselves from the love the Lord
offers us in the Eucharistic Sacrament, this evening we renew our faith
in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Such faith must not be
taken for granted!"
He added: "Today there is a risk of insidious secularization, even
inside the Church. This could translate into a formal but empty
Eucharistic worship, in celebrations lacking that involvement of the
heart which finds expression in veneration and respect for the
liturgy.
"There is always a strong temptation to reduce prayer to
superficial and hurried moments, allowing ourselves to be overcome by
earthly activities and concerns," he warned.
"With the Eucharist, heaven comes down to earth, God's tomorrow
descends into the present moment and time is, as it were, embraced by
divine eternity."
Read the entire piece.
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