MESSAGE TO GERMAN NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Vatican City, 9 June 2013 (VIS) – This morning at the beginning of the Mass closing the German National Eucharistic Congress that took place in Cologne, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” and the Holy Father's special envoy to the event, read the message that Pope Francis had written to those participating in the Congress.

The theme of the Congress was “Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?”, Peter's question to Jesus after his words in the synagogue in Capernaum when He announced that He was the Bread of Life, scandalizing many who then stopped following him.

“We, members of today's Church, also ask ourselves this question,“ the Pope wrote. “Our answer, like that of the Apostle, can only be the person of Jesus. Yes, He lived two thousand years ago. However, we can encounter him in our time when we listen to his Word and are close to him, in a unique way, in the Eucharist. … May the Mass not become a superficial routine for us! May we always draw more and more from its depth! It is precisely what puts us within Christ's immense work of salvation, sharpening our spiritual sight with his love, [becoming part] of his 'prophecy in action' in the Upper Room with which He initiated his gift of Himself upon the Cross and his irrevocable victory over sin and death.”

“This is the same question that some contemporaries are asking who—either lucidly or with foreboding—are still in search of the Father of Jesus Christ. The Redeemer wants to meet them through us … With our lives and our words we must proclaim to them what we have recognized together with Peter and the Apostles: 'Lord, You have the words of eternal life.' … All of us, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and lay persons, have the duty to bring God to the world and the world to God.”