VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2007 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 9.30 a.m. today, Holy Thursday, the Holy Father presided at the Chrism Mass, which is celebrated on this day in churches and cathedrals throughout the world. Cardinals, bishops and priests present in Rome concelebrated with the Pope. The homily was followed by the renewal of priestly vows and the blessing of the oil used for catechumens, the sick and those being confirmed.
In his homily the Pope recalled the moment during a priest's ordination in which he dons the liturgical vestments, saying: "In this exterior gesture the Church wishes to make the interior event clear to us, and the task that arises therefrom: to don Christ, to give oneself to Him as He gave Himself to us. This event, this 'donning of Christ,' is represented ever and anew in each Mass."
The liturgical vestments, then, Benedict XVI commented, "illustrate what it means 'to don Christ,' to speak and to talk 'in persona Christi'."
The amice, he continued, "used to be placed over the head like a kind of hood, thus becoming a symbol of that discipline of the senses and the mind which is necessary for the celebration of Mass."
The texts that interpret the alb and the stole "evoke the festive robes that the father gave to the prodigal son when he returned home dirty and in rags. When we celebrate the liturgy, acting 'in persona Christi,' we are all aware just how far from Him we are, how much dirt there is in our own lives. Only He can give us the festive robes, make us worthy of presiding at His table and of serving Him."
In donning the alb, said the Holy Father, "we must remember that His suffering was for me also. And only because His love is greater than all of my sins can I represent Him and be a witness to His light. ... We ask the Lord to eliminate all hostility from our hearts, to remove all feelings of self-sufficiency and truly to dress us with the robe of love, that we may become people of light and not of the shadows."
The Pope then went on to recall that the chasuble represents "the yoke of the Lord which has been imposed upon us as priests. ... To bear the Lord's yoke means above all learning from Him, being always ready to go to His school. We must learn mildness and humility, the humility of God which was expressed in His becoming man."
At 5.30 p.m. in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Benedict XVI presided at the Mass of the Lord's Supper. During the celebration, imitating the gesture of the Lord towards His Apostles, the Pope washed the feet of 12 men, representatives of lay associations in the diocese of Rome. At the presentation of the gifts, the Holy Father was given an offering to help support a medical center in Baidoa, Somalia.
In his homily, Pope Benedict noted the existence of "an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of St. John on the one hand, and what Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us on the other," concerning the exact date of the Last Supper. "According to John, Jesus died on the Cross at the exact moment in which the Easter lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple. ... This means, however, that He died on the Easter vigil and, therefore, could not have personally celebrated the Easter supper. ... On the other hand, according to the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus' Last Supper was an Easter supper, to the traditional form of which He added the novelty of the gift of His body and His blood. Until a few years ago, this contradiction appeared impossible to resolve."
"The discovery of the manuscripts of Qumran has led us to a possible convincing solution which, though not yet accepted by everyone, still remains highly probable. We can now say that what John wrote was historically accurate. Jesus truly did spill His blood on the Easter vigil at the moment the lambs were being sacrificed. However He probably celebrated Easter with His disciples in accordance with the calendar of Qumran, and therefore at least one day early - and he celebrated without the lamb. ... No, not without the lamb: in place of the lamb he gave Himself, His body and His blood. ... He offered His own life. Only in this way did the ancient Easter find its true meaning."
"The nostalgic, and in some way ineffective, gesture of sacrificing the innocent and immaculate lamb, found its response in Him Who for us became both Lamb and Temple.
"Thus," the Pope added, "at the center of Jesus' new Easter was the Cross. From there came the new gift He brought. And so it always remains in the Blessed Eucharist, in which we are able to celebrate the new Easter with the Apostles over the course of the centuries."
The Pope concluded by asking the Lord "to help us to an ever more profound understanding of this wonderful mystery, to love it ever more deeply and, in it, to love Him ever more deeply. We pray to Him to draw us ever more to Himself in Holy Communion. We pray to Him to help us not to keep our lives for ourselves but to give them to Him and thus to work with Him, so that mankind may discover life, true life that can only come from Him Who is Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life."
BXVI-HOLY WEEK/HOLY THURSDAY/... VIS 20070411 (940)
In his homily the Pope recalled the moment during a priest's ordination in which he dons the liturgical vestments, saying: "In this exterior gesture the Church wishes to make the interior event clear to us, and the task that arises therefrom: to don Christ, to give oneself to Him as He gave Himself to us. This event, this 'donning of Christ,' is represented ever and anew in each Mass."
The liturgical vestments, then, Benedict XVI commented, "illustrate what it means 'to don Christ,' to speak and to talk 'in persona Christi'."
The amice, he continued, "used to be placed over the head like a kind of hood, thus becoming a symbol of that discipline of the senses and the mind which is necessary for the celebration of Mass."
The texts that interpret the alb and the stole "evoke the festive robes that the father gave to the prodigal son when he returned home dirty and in rags. When we celebrate the liturgy, acting 'in persona Christi,' we are all aware just how far from Him we are, how much dirt there is in our own lives. Only He can give us the festive robes, make us worthy of presiding at His table and of serving Him."
In donning the alb, said the Holy Father, "we must remember that His suffering was for me also. And only because His love is greater than all of my sins can I represent Him and be a witness to His light. ... We ask the Lord to eliminate all hostility from our hearts, to remove all feelings of self-sufficiency and truly to dress us with the robe of love, that we may become people of light and not of the shadows."
The Pope then went on to recall that the chasuble represents "the yoke of the Lord which has been imposed upon us as priests. ... To bear the Lord's yoke means above all learning from Him, being always ready to go to His school. We must learn mildness and humility, the humility of God which was expressed in His becoming man."
At 5.30 p.m. in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Benedict XVI presided at the Mass of the Lord's Supper. During the celebration, imitating the gesture of the Lord towards His Apostles, the Pope washed the feet of 12 men, representatives of lay associations in the diocese of Rome. At the presentation of the gifts, the Holy Father was given an offering to help support a medical center in Baidoa, Somalia.
In his homily, Pope Benedict noted the existence of "an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of St. John on the one hand, and what Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us on the other," concerning the exact date of the Last Supper. "According to John, Jesus died on the Cross at the exact moment in which the Easter lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple. ... This means, however, that He died on the Easter vigil and, therefore, could not have personally celebrated the Easter supper. ... On the other hand, according to the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus' Last Supper was an Easter supper, to the traditional form of which He added the novelty of the gift of His body and His blood. Until a few years ago, this contradiction appeared impossible to resolve."
"The discovery of the manuscripts of Qumran has led us to a possible convincing solution which, though not yet accepted by everyone, still remains highly probable. We can now say that what John wrote was historically accurate. Jesus truly did spill His blood on the Easter vigil at the moment the lambs were being sacrificed. However He probably celebrated Easter with His disciples in accordance with the calendar of Qumran, and therefore at least one day early - and he celebrated without the lamb. ... No, not without the lamb: in place of the lamb he gave Himself, His body and His blood. ... He offered His own life. Only in this way did the ancient Easter find its true meaning."
"The nostalgic, and in some way ineffective, gesture of sacrificing the innocent and immaculate lamb, found its response in Him Who for us became both Lamb and Temple.
"Thus," the Pope added, "at the center of Jesus' new Easter was the Cross. From there came the new gift He brought. And so it always remains in the Blessed Eucharist, in which we are able to celebrate the new Easter with the Apostles over the course of the centuries."
The Pope concluded by asking the Lord "to help us to an ever more profound understanding of this wonderful mystery, to love it ever more deeply and, in it, to love Him ever more deeply. We pray to Him to draw us ever more to Himself in Holy Communion. We pray to Him to help us not to keep our lives for ourselves but to give them to Him and thus to work with Him, so that mankind may discover life, true life that can only come from Him Who is Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life."
BXVI-HOLY WEEK/HOLY THURSDAY/... VIS 20070411 (940)
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