Thursday, May 15
Liturgical Color: White
On this day in 1891, Pope Leo XIII
promulgated the encyclical, Rerum Novarum.
In it he stated that after we take care of our
own basic needs, Christian charity demands
that we give alms to help provide for the
poor.
Day 151 - What happens in the Church when she celebrates the Eucharist?
What happens in the Church when she celebrates the Eucharist?
Every time the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she stands before the source from which she herself constantly springs anew. By "eating" the Body of Christ, the Church becomes the Body of Christ, which is just another name for the Church. In the sacrifice of Christ, who gives himself to us, body and soul, there is room for our whole life. We can unite everythingour work and our sufferings, our joys with Christ's sacrifice. If we offer ourselves in this way, we are transformed: We become pleasing to God and like good, nourishing bread for our fellowmen.
Again and again we grumble about the Church, as though she were just an association of more or less good people. In reality the Church is what happens daily in a mysterious way at the altar. God gives himself to each one of us individually, and he wants to transform us through communion with him. Once we are transformed, we are supposed to transform the world. Everything else that the Church is besides that is secondary. (YOUCAT question 217)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1368-1372) and other references here.