Posted on 05/27/2005 6:34:40 AM PDT by TaxachusettsMan
[Tr. note: the Pope uses the expression "Corpus Domini" - which is the popular Latin title for the feast in Italy; the feast called "Corpus Christi" in most English-speaking countries. Its official title in the post-Vatican II liturgical calendar (which combines it with the old July 1 feast of the Precious Blood) is "Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ."]
In the feast of Corpus Christi, the Church relives the mystery of Holy Thursday in the light of the Resurrection. Holy Thursday, too, knows its own eucharistic procession, with which the Church repeats the exodus of Jesus from the Cenacle to the Mount of Olives. In Israel, the night of Passover is celebrated in the home, in the intimacy of the family; thus the memory is kept of the first Passover, in Egypt – of the night in which the blood of the paschal lamb, sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels of the houses, protected them against the exterminator. Jesus, in that night, goes forth and consigns himself into the hands of the traitor, of the exterminator, and, precisely in that way, conquers the night, conquers the darkness of evil. Only thus does the gift of the Eucharist, instituted in the Cenacle, achieve its fulfillment: Jesus really gives his body and his blood. Passing over the threshold of death, he becomes the Living Bread, the true Manna, the inexhaustible nourishment for all the ages. His flesh becomes the Bread of Life.
In the procession of Holy Thursday, the Church accompanies Jesus to the Mount of Olives: it is the living desire of the praying Church to keep vigil with Jesus, not to leave him alone in the night of the world, in the night of betrayal, in the night of indifference on the part of so many. In the feast of Corpus Christi, let us resume that procession, but in the joy of the Resurrection. The Lord is risen and goes before us. In the accounts of the Resurrection there is a common and essential feature; the angels say: the Lord “goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see him” (Matthew 28:7). Considering this more closely, we are able to say that this “going before” of Jesus implies a two-fold direction. The first is – as we have heard – to Galilee. In Israel, Galilee was considered to be the gateway toward the world of the pagans. And in reality, it was precisely in Galilee, on the mountain, that the disciples saw Jesus, the Lord, who told them: “Go . . . and teach all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). The other direction of the Risen One’s “going before” appears in the Gospel of Saint John, in the words of Jesus to Magdalen: “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet gone to the Father . . . ” (John 20:17). Jesus goes before us toward the Father, goes forth to the heights of God and invites us to follow him. These two directions of the path of the Risen One do not contradict each other, but indicate together the way of the following of Christ. The true destination of our path is communion with God – God himself is the “house of many mansions” (see John 14:2 ff). But we are able to go forth to this place only by going “toward Galilee” – going along the streets of the world, carrying the Gospel to all the nations, carrying the gift of his love for all people of all time. Therefore the way of the apostles extends “even to the ends of the earth” (see Acts 1:6 ff); thus Saint Peter and Saint Paul traveled even as far as Rome, the city that was then the center of the known world, truly “caput mundi” (Tr. note: the “head of the world,” an appropriate reference remembering that the Pope is delivering this homily in the square in front of St. John Lateran whose façade bears those words).
The procession of Holy Thursday accompanies Jesus in his solitude, toward the “way of the cross.” The procession of Corpus Christi, by way of contrast, responds in a symbolic way to the command of the Risen One: “I go before you to Galilee.” Go to the very ends of the world; carry the Gospel to the world. Certainly, the Eucharist is, by faith, a mystery of intimacy. The Lord instituted the Sacrament in the Cenacle, surrounded by his new family, of the twelve apostles, a prefigurement and anticipation of the Church of all times. Therefore, in the liturgy of the ancient Church, the distribution of holy communion was introduced with the words: Sancta sanctis – the holy Gift is destined for those who have been made holy. In this way, the invitation corresponds to the admonition of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: “Take care, above all, to examine yourselves, and only then, eat of this bread and drink of this chalice” (1 Corinthians 11:28). Nevertheless, from this intimacy, which is the most personal gift of the Lord, the power of the sacrament of the Eucharist goes beyond the boundaries of our churches. In this Sacrament, the Lord is always on the path toward the world. This universal aspect of the eucharistic presence appears in the procession of our feast. Let us carry Christ, present in the figure of bread, along the streets of our city. Let us entrust these streets, these houses – our daily lives – to his goodness. Let our streets be the streets of Jesus! Let our houses be houses for him and with him! Let our lives, every day, be penetrated with his presence. With this action, let us hold up before his eyes the sufferings of those who are ill, the loneliness of young people and of the elderly, the temptations, the fears – every part of our lives. The procession intends to be a great and public blessing for this city of ours: Christ is, in person, the divine blessing for the world – the radius of his blessing embraces all of us (Tr. note: or, “the shining beam of his blessing is extended over all of us”)!
In the procession of Corpus Christi, let us accompany the Risen One on his way toward the whole world – as we have said. And, precisely in doing this, let us respond also to his command: “Take and eat . . . Drink of this, all of you” (Matthew 26:26 ff). One is not “to eat” the Risen One, present in the figure of bread, as a simple piece of bread. To eat this bread is to communicate, to enter into communion with the person of the living Lord. This communion, this act of “to eat,” is really an encounter between two persons, is permitting oneself to be penetrated by the life of Him who is the Lord, of Him who is my Creator and Redeemer. The aim of this communion is the assimilation of my life into his, my transformation and conforming to him who is the living Beloved (Tr. note: or, simply, “the living Love”). Therefore, this communion involves (Tr. note: or, “implies”) adoration, involves (implies) the will to follow Christ, to follow Him who goes before us. Adoration and procession, therefore, form part of the great single act of communion; they respond to his command: “Take and eat.”
Our procession concludes in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in the encounter with the Madonna, called by our dear Pope John Paul II “the eucharistic Woman.” Truly Mary, the Mother of the Lord, teaches us how to enter into communion with Christ: Mary has offered her own flesh, her own blood to Jesus and has become the living abode of the Word, permitting herself to be penetrated in body and in spirit with his presence. Let us pray to Her, our holy Mother, that she may help us to open ourselves, ever more fully, to the presence of Christ; to help us to follow him faithfully, day by day, along streets of our life. Amen!
Thanks! I'll be looking forward to finding out more about them.
Hee hee. How traditional is it for the Eucharist to be hauled in a pickup bed?
I heard the homily on EWTN last night and share in your delight. I also timed it. Twelve minutes. Now if only my superfluous pastor would get a clue.
Thank you for checking! I went and visited their website but I didn't see an explanation of this (it's kind of a multi-layered complicated website).
I am going to Spain next week and hope to visit one of their houses. They seem to be pretty active in Spain and have several houses and lay affiliates, with at least one in Madrid and one in Toledo, where I had to go anyway on this trip. I'll report back if I find out anything interesting about their European presence.
The fellow I talked with is from Brazil.
Buen viaje!
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