CORPUS CHRISTI: FEAST OF ADORATION AND CONTEMPLATION

VATICAN CITY, JUN 14, 2001 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. today, solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Pope celebrated Mass in the piazza adjacent to St. John Lateran Basilica. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, the vice-gerent, auxiliary bishops, and the newly ordained priests of the diocese, concelebrated with the Holy Father.

In his homily, John Paul II emphasized that the solemnity of Corpus Christi is a "feast of adoration, contemplation, and exaltation. The feast in which the People of God unite around the most precious treasure inherited from Christ, the Sacrament of His very Presence, and praise, sing, and carry Him in procession through the streets of the city."

"This is a sublime and ineffable mystery," the Pope continued, "the Mystery before which one remains spellbound and silent, in an attitude of profound ecstatic contemplation."

The Holy Father recalled that "in the Sacrament of the altar, all the depth of the mystery of Christ is offered to our loving contemplation. ... In His Body and His Blood the invisible face of Christ, the Son of God, is revealed."

By the Eucharistic bread, the Pope went on, "we nourish ourselves in order to become authentic witnesses of the Gospel. We need this bread in order to grow in love, an indispensable condition for recognizing the face of Christ in the face of one's brethren."

The Pope affirmed that "it is necessary to journey 'setting out anew' from Christ, that is, from the Eucharist. We journey with generosity and courage, seeking communion within our ecclesial community and dedicating ourselves with love to humble and selfless service toward all, especially the most needy."

"May the Christians of Rome," exclaimed the Pope at the end of his homily, "reinvigorated by His Body and by His Blood, show Christ to all with their way of life: with their unity, with their joyful faith, with their goodness!".

At the end of Mass, the Pope presided over the Eucharistic procession along Via Merulana to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. The procession was followed by tens of thousands of faithful who prayed and sang as they accompanied the Blessed Sacrament. A covered vehicle transported the Blessed Sacrament, held in a monstrance and accompanied by the Holy Father on a kneeler.

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