Monday, July 3, 2000

JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIS

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VATICAN CITY, JUL 1, 2000 (VIS) - Following a Mass this morning in St. Peter's Square, presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in the presence of tens of thousands of pilgrims, Pope John Paul greeted the members of the male and female religious families and Catholic associations dedicated to the worship of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.

The Pope recalled that up to Vatican Council II "the mystery of the Most Precious Blood of Christ was celebrated liturgically throughout the Catholic Church on July 1" but that "Pope Paul VI linked the feast of the Blood of Christ to that of His body in the solemnity now known as 'The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ'."

"The Jubilee Year," he went on, "gives new impulse to a most significant devotion. In fact, as we celebrate Christ's birth at a distance of 2000 years, we are also invited to contemplate and adore Him in the most holy humanity which He took on in Mary's womb, joined hypostatically to the Divine Person of the Word. If Christ's blood is a precious font of salvation for the world, that cOmes precisely from His being the Word made flesh for our salvation."

John Paul II said that Christ's sacrifice on the Cross "inspires us ... to give our lives for God and our brothers without reserve 'usque ad effusione, sanguinis' (up to the shedding of blood), as did so many martyrs. How can we not recognize repeatedly the value of every human being when, for each one, without distinction, Christ has shed His blood?"

Before closing, the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims from the diocese of Bergamo, Italy, recalling their fellow citizen, and his predecessor, the late Pope John XXIII. "May the path of prayer and meditation which leads you to Jubilee sites," he said, "be an occasion for you to reaffirm your convinced adhesion to Christ, the 'Holy Door', to enter into the Kingdom of God."

AC;BLOOD CHRIST;...;...;VIS;20000703;Word: 330;

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