THE EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION IS A MISSIONARY EVENT

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2000 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 40,000 pilgrims, the Pope recalled that this week marks the celebration in Rome of the International Eucharistic Congress, whose theme is: "Jesus Christ, only Savior of the World, Bread for a New Life."

The theme of this week's catechesis was "The Eucharist, Source of the Church's Missionary Commitment." John Paul II affirmed that "the celebration of the Eucharist, Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, is in itself a missionary event that introduces the fertile seed of the new life into the world."

"Each Mass ends with the missionary call to 'go,' inviting the faithful to bring the announcement of the Risen Lord into families, into the workplace, into society, into the whole world."

The Holy Father emphasized that "today it is particularly necessary that, from the celebration of the Eucharist, each Christian community draws the interior conviction and the spiritual strength to emerge and open itself to other communities that are poorer and more in need of support in the fields of evangelization and missionary cooperation. This favors the fertile exchange of reciprocal gifts that enriches the whole Church. It is also very important, using the Eucharist as a starting point, to distinguish missionary vocations and ministries."

After highlighting that "the Eucharist is, furthermore, a permanent school of charity of justice and of peace for the renewal of the world in Christ," he referred to "those individual 'missionaries' and witnesses of faith and love of Christ: the martyrs." Their relics, placed under the altar, "constitute a clear sign of the energy that emanates from Christ's sacrifice."

The Holy Father greeted the "numerous representatives of the World Federation of Nocturnal Adoration, whom I invite to renew their devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during the present Eucharistic Congress."

Finally, he addressed the numerous catechists who are celebrating their Jubilee: "Catechesis is a bastion of Church life, be ever aware of this and accompany your precious service with prayer and the witness of your lives. With affection, I bless and encourage you."

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