Saturday, May 28, 2005
Eucharistic truths
Those who receive Communion cannot act as if they were eating a simple piece of bread, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told the faithful in his homily in St. John Lateran basilica on Thursday evening during the Mass for the feast of Corpus Christi. The Pope then led the Eucharistic procession to St. Mary Major basilica, continuing the custom of his predecessor, and declared it a "great and public blessing" for the city.
"In the feast of the Corpus Christi, the Church relives the mystery of Holy Thursday in light of the Resurrection," the Pope explained in his homily, pointing out that Holy Thursday-- the day we commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples-- could also be characterized as a Eucharistic procession. But if the procession of Holy Thursday "accompanies Jesus in his solitude on the Way of the Cross ... the procession of Corpus Christi, on the contrary, answers in a symbolic way the mandate of the Resurrection." This mandate tells us to carry the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
Remember, in the US we have Corpus Christi tomorrow for some unknown reason. I think that transferring the feast to the Sunday dilutes the value of standing apart from the larger community and asserting that Catholics are different, myself. Or at least should be different.
"In the feast of the Corpus Christi, the Church relives the mystery of Holy Thursday in light of the Resurrection," the Pope explained in his homily, pointing out that Holy Thursday-- the day we commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples-- could also be characterized as a Eucharistic procession. But if the procession of Holy Thursday "accompanies Jesus in his solitude on the Way of the Cross ... the procession of Corpus Christi, on the contrary, answers in a symbolic way the mandate of the Resurrection." This mandate tells us to carry the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
Remember, in the US we have Corpus Christi tomorrow for some unknown reason. I think that transferring the feast to the Sunday dilutes the value of standing apart from the larger community and asserting that Catholics are different, myself. Or at least should be different.
