Pope: Witnesses of the Eucharist to the ends of the earth
To mark World Mission Day and to close the Synod, Benedict XVI canonised five Blesseds, who inspired by the Eucharist, set up charitable and social works. A special greeting for the Chinese bishops, for whom it was impossible to attend the Synod. The sacrifice of Jesus is "for all" and urges all Christians to "remain in Christ" and proclaim him to the world.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - World Mission Day, the first canonisations by Benedict XVI, the closing of the Synod and the Year dedicated to the Eucharist: all these events were intertwined in Mass presided over by the pope in the square of the Basilica of St Peter this morning.
Before tens of thousands of people, Benedict XVI canonised Polish bishop, Jozef Bilczewski (1860-1923); Italian priest, Gaetano Catanoso (1879-1963), founder of the congregation of the Veronica Sisters of the Holy Countenance; Polish priest, Zygmund Gorazdowski (1845-1920), founder of the congregation of Sisters of St Joseph; Chilean Jesuit Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga (1901-1952); Felice Da Nicosia (1715-1787), Italian friar of the Capuchin brothers.
Benedict XVI highlighted the profound Eucharistic spirituality of all these, from which they drew their energy to love people, especially the poor and the sick, as well as their intelligence to set up social, cultural and education works "thus becoming a model for all believers".
The new saints are concrete examples of what the Synod wished to celebrate: "Contemplation of the Eucharist must urge all members of the Church, first and foremost priests, ministers of the Eucharist, to renew their faith commitment"; the celibacy for priests; unity between "faith and life" for lay people "in the mission of Christian animation of the world".
Talking about the Synod, the pope recalled the great pain caused by the absence of four Chinese bishops who he had invited. As soon as Benedict XVI referred to them, all the public and the bishops applauded warmly. "I want to assure all the Chinese bishops," said the pope, "that we are close with them and their priests and faithful in prayer. The suffering journey of the communities entrusted to their pastoral care, is there in our heart: it will not remain without fruit, because it is a participation in the Easter Mystery, for the glory of the Father".
Recalling World Mission Day being marked today, Benedict XVI highlighted the link between the mission and Eucharist. He cited "missionaries who proclaimed and witnessed to the Gospel, at times even sacrificing their life"; but he also drew attention to the "gift" of the Eucharist which "prompts" each Christian to be "broken bread" for others, to be committed to creating a more just and fraternal world.
We reproduce here the text of the homily of Benedict XVI:
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood!
Dear brothers and sisters!
On this XXX Sunday of Ordinary Time, our Eucharistic celebration is enriched by many reasons of thanksgiving and supplication to God. There is the Year of the Eucharist and the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated precisely to the Eucharistic mystery in the life and the mission of the Church, while five Blesseds will shortly be proclaimed saints: Bishop Józef Bilczewski, priests Gaetano Catanoso, Zygmunt Gorazdowski and Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, and the Capuchin friar Felice da Nicosia. Besides, today is World Mission Day, an annual appointment which reveals the missionary slant of church communities. With joy, I greet all those present, first and foremost the Synodal Fathers and then the pilgrims who have come from diverse nations. Today's liturgy invites us to contemplate the Eucharist as a font of sanctity and spiritual nutrition for our mission in the world: this "gift and mystery" makes manifest to us and communicates the fullness of the love of God.
The Word of the Lord, resounded just now in the Gospel, reminded us that all divine law is summed up in love. The twofold commandment of the love of God and our neighbour embraces the two aspects of one dynamism of the heart and of life. Jesus thus brought to completion ancient revelation, not adding an unfulfilled commandment but realising in himself and his saving action the living synthesis of the two great words of the ancient Covenant: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart " and "You shall love your neighbour as yourself " (cfr Dt 6,5; Lv 19,18). In the Eucharist, we contemplate the Sacrament of this living synthesis of the law: Christ delivers to us, in himself, the full realisation of the love for God and love for our brothers. And this love He communicates to us when we are nourished by his Body and his Blood. Then what St Paul wrote in the Thessalonians - which we heard in today's second reading - can be realised is us:
"You turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God" (1 Ts 1,9). This conversion is the beginning of the journey to holiness which each Christian is called to realise throughout his existence. The saint is he who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth that he is progressively transformed. For this beauty and truth, he is ready to renounce everything, even himself. The love of God is sufficient for him, which he experiences in humble and disinterested service of his neighbour, especially those who are unable to give anything in exchange. How providential, from this perspective, is the fact that today the Church has highlighted for all its members five new Saints who, nourished by Christ, living Bread, converted to love, on which they based their entire existence. In several situations and with many charisms, they loved the Lord with all their heart and their neighbour as themselves "so that they became an example to all the believers" (1 Thess 1:6-7)
Święty Józef Bilczewski był człowiekiem modlitwy. Msza św., Liturgia Godzin, medytacja, różaniec i inne praktyki religijne wyznaczały rytm jego dni. Szczególnie wiele czasu poświęcał adoracji eucharystycznej.
Również święty Zygmunt Gorazdowski zasłynął swoją pobożnością opartą o sprawowanie i adorację Eucharystii. Przeżywanie Ofiary Chrystusa prowadziło go ku chorym, biednym i potrzebującym.
[St Józef Bilczewski was a man of prayer. The Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation, the rosary and other offices of piety permeated his days. A particularly long time was spent in Eucharistic adoration.
Even St Zygmunt Gorazdowski became famous for his devotion based on celebration and adoration of the Eucharist. His living of the offering of Christ nudged him towards the sick, the poor and those in need.]
Глибоке знання Богослов'я, віри та євхаристійної набожності Йосифа Більчевського вчинили так, що він став прикладом для священиків і свідком віри для всіх християн.
Зигмунд Гораздовський, засновуючи Асоціяцію священиків, Конгрегацію Сестер Св. Йосифа та ряд інших харитативних організацій, керувався завжди духом сопричастя, який міститься в Пресвятій Євхаристії.
[The deep knowledge of theology, faith and the Eucharistic devotion of Józef Bilczeski made him an example for priests and a witness for all the faithful.
Zygmunt Gorazdowski, founder of the Association of Priests, the congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph and many charitable institutions, always allowed himself to be led by a spirit of communion, which reveals itself fully in the Eucharist.]
"Amarás al Señor tu Dios con todo tu corazón... y a tu prójimo como a ti mismo" (Mt 22,37.39). Éste sería el programa de vida de San Alberto Hurtado, que quiso identificarse con el Señor y amar con su mismo amor a los pobres. La formación recibida en la Compañía de Jesús, consolidada por la oración y la adoración de la Eucaristía, le llevó a dejarse conquistar por Cristo, siendo un verdadero contemplativo en la acción. En el amor y entrega total a la voluntad de Dios encontraba la fuerza para el apostolado. Fundó El Hogar de Cristo para los más necesitados y los sin techo, ofreciéndoles un ambiente familiar lleno de calor humano. En su ministerio sacerdotal destacaba por su sencillez y disponibilidad hacia los demás, siendo una imagen viva del Maestro, "manso y humilde de corazón". Al final de sus días, entre los fuertes dolores de la enfermedad, aún tenía fuerzas para repetir: "Contento, Señor, contento", expresando así la alegría con la que siempre vivió.
[You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind You shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Mt 22,37.39). This was the life agenda of St Alberto Hurtado, who always desired to identify with the Lord and to love the poor with his own love. The formation received in the Society of Jesus, consolidated thanks to adoration of the Eucharist, led him to allow himself to be conquered by Christ, becoming a true contemplative in action. In love and total dedication to the will of God, he managed to find strength for his apostolate. He founded the "focolare of Christ", for the needy and the homeless, offering them a family environment, full of human warmth. In his priestly ministry, he distinguished himself with his sensitivity and his availability to needy people, becoming a living image of the Teacher "meek and humble of heart". At the end of his days, suffering atrocious pain because of his illness, he had the strength to reiterate: 'I am content, Lord, content', showing in this way the joy with which he had always lived - trans. by AsiaNews]
San Gaetano Catanoso was founder and apostle of the Holy Countenance of Christ. "The Holy Countenance is my life. It is my strength," he would say. With happy intuition, he coupled this devotion to Eucharistic piety. Thus he would say: "If we want to adore the real Countenance of Jesus we find it in the divine Eucharist, where the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ hide under the white veil of the Host the Face of Our Lord". Daily Mass and frequent adoration of the Sacrament of the altar were the soul of his priesthood: with ardent and insatiable pastoral charity, he dedicated himself to preaching, to catechesis, to the ministry of confession, to the poor, the sick, to the care of priestly vocations. To the Veronica Sisters of the Holy Countenance, which he founded, he transmitted his spirit of charity, of humility and sacrifice, which had animated his entire existence.
St Felice da Nicosia loved to repeat in all circumstances, joyful and sad: "Let it be for the love of God." We can then well understand how intense and concrete was in him the experience of the love of God revealed to men in Christ. This humble Capuchin friar, well known son of the land of Sicily, austere and penitent, faithful to the most genuine expressions of Franciscan tradition, was gradually moulded and transformed by the love of God, lived and realised in love for his neighbour. Br Felice helps us to discover the value of the small things which make life precious, he teaches us how to grasp the sense of the family and of service to our brothers, showing us that true and lasting joy, to which the heart of every human being is linked, is the fruit of love.
Dear and venerated Synodal Fathers, for three weeks we have lived together a climate of renewed Eucharistic fervour. Now I would like, with you and in the name of the entire episcopate, to send a fraternal greeting to the Bishops of the Church in China. We have felt the absence of their representatives with sharp sadness. Nonetheless I want to assure all the Chinese bishops that we are close in prayer to them, their priests and their faithful. The suffered journey of the communities entrusted to their pastoral care, is present in our heart: it will not remain without fruit because it is a participation in the Easter Mystery, for the glory of the Father. The deliberations of the Synod have allowed us to go deeper into salient aspects of this mystery given to the Church from the beginning. Contemplation of the Eucharist must urge all members of the Church, first and foremost priests, ministers of the Eucharist, to renew their faith commitment. The celibacy, received as a precious gift an sign of their undivided love for God and neighbour ,is founded on the Eucharistic mystery. For lay people too, Eucharistic spirituality must be the interior motor of every activity and no dichotomy between faith and life in their mission of Christian animation of the world is allowed. As the Year of the Eucharist comes to an end, how not to thank God for so many gifts given to the Church in this time - And how not to take up again the invitation of the beloved Pope John Paul II to "start again from Christ"? Like the disciples of Emmaus who, heartened by the words of the Resurrected One and illuminated by his living presence recognised in the breaking of the bread, returned without lingering to Jerusalem where they became proclaimers of the resurrection of Christ, we too must take up our walk again, animated by the living desire to testify the mystery of this love which gives hope to the world.
In this Eucharistic perspective, World Mission Day marked today is well placed. The venerated Servant of God, John Paul II had given as the following theme for this day: "Mission: Bread broken for the life of the world". When the church community celebrates the Eucharist, especially on the day of the Lord, it becomes ever more conscious that the sacrifice of Christ is "for all" (Mt 26,28) and the Eucharist prompts Christians to be "broken bread" for others, to commit himself to a more just and fraternal world. Once again today, before the crowds, Christ continues to exhort his disciples "Feed them yourselves" (Mt 14,16) and in his name, missionaries proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel, at times even at the cost of their life. Dear friends, we must all start again from the Eucharist. Mary helps us, Eucharistic woman, to be in love with it; she helps us to "remain" in the love of Christ, to be intimately renewed in Him. The movement of the Spirit is docile and attentive to the needs of mankind, the Church will then be ever more a lighthouse, of true joy and hope, realising to the full its mission as a "sign and instrument of unity of the entire human race" (Lumen gentium, 1).
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02/10/2005
