Vatican City, 7 June 2015 (VIS) – At
midday today – the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of
Christ, or according to the better known Latin expression, Corpus
Domini – the Pope appeared at the window of his study to pray the
Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Francis commented on the Gospel reading
of this Sunday's liturgy, which narrates the institution of the
Eucharist during the Last Supper, when Jesus, pronouncing the words,
“Take; this is my body”, assigns to the bread a function “that
is not solely that of simple physical nourishment, but rather that of
being present in his Person in the midst of the community of
believers”.
The Last Supper is “the point of
arrival of all of Christ's life. It is not merely the anticipation of
His sacrifice that will be fulfilled on the Cross, but also the
synthesis of an existence offered for the salvation of all of
humanity”. Therefore, “when we eat this bread, we are associated
with Jesus' life, we enter into communion with Him, we undertake to
achieve communion among ourselves, and to transform our life into a
gift, especially to the poorest”.
“Today's Solemnity evokes this
fraternal message, and urges us to welcome the invitation to
conversion and to service, to love and to forgiveness. It inspires us
to convert, with our life, into imitators of what we celebrate in the
liturgy. Christ, Who nourishes us in the form of the consecrated
bread and wine, is the same Whom we encounter in daily events. … He
is in every human being, even the smallest and most defenceless. The
Eucharist, the source of love for the life of the Church, is a school
of charity and solidarity. Those who are nourished by the Bread of
Christ cannot remain indifferent before those without daily bread.
Today, we are aware, this is an increasingly serious problem”,
Francis concluded.
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