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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On Corpus Christi
"Yes, Love Exists, and Since It Exists, Things Can Change"
H.H. Benedict XVI
June 14, 2009
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today, in different countries, Italy among them, we celebrate
"Corpus Domini," the feast of the Eucharist, in which the sacrament
of the Lord's Body is carried solemnly in procession.
What does this feast mean for us? It does not make us think only of
the liturgical aspect; in reality, "Corpus Domini" is a day that
involves the cosmic dimension, heaven and earth. It evokes, first of
all -- at least in our hemisphere -- this beautiful and fragrant
season in which spring finally begins the turn toward summer, the
sun shines brilliantly in the heavens and the wheat matures in the
fields. The seasons of the Church -- like the Jewish ones -- have to
do with the rhythm of the solar year, of planting and harvesting.
This dimension comes to the foreground especially in today's
solemnity, in which the sign of bread, fruit of earth and of heaven,
is at the center. This is why the Eucharistic bread is the sign of
him in whom heaven and earth, God and man, become one. And this
shows that the relationship with the seasons is not something that
is merely external to the liturgical year.
The solemnity of "Corpus Domini" is intimately linked to Easter and
Pentecost: The death and resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out
of the Holy Spirit are its presuppositions. It is, furthermore,
linked to the feast of the Trinity, which we celebrated last Sunday.
Only because God himself is relation can there be relation with him;
and only because he is love can he love and be loved. In this way
"Corpus Domini" is a manifestation of God, an attestation that God
is love. In a unique and peculiar way, this feast speaks to us of
divine love, of what it is and what it does. It tells us, for
example, that it regenerates itself in giving itself, it receives
itself in giving itself, it does not run out and is not used up;
thus we hear in a hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas: "nec sumptus
consumitur" (it is not used up in being consumed).
Love transforms every thing, and so we understand that the mystery
of transubstantiation, the sign of Jesus-Charity, which transforms
the world, is at the center of today's feast of "Corpus Domini."
Looking upon him and worshiping him, we say: Yes, love exists, and
since it exists, things can change for the better and we can hope.
It is the hope that comes from Christ's love that gives us the
strength to live and to face every difficulty. This is why we sing
while we carry the most Blessed Sacrament in procession; we sing and
praise God, who reveals himself hidden in the sign of broken bread.
We all have need of this bread, because the road to freedom, justice
and peace is long and wearisome.
We can imagine with what faith and love the Madonna would have
received and worshiped the Holy Eucharist in her heart! Each time it
was for her like receiving the whole mystery of her Son Jesus: from
the conception to the resurrection. My venerable and beloved
predecessor, John Paul II, called her the "Eucharistic Woman." Let
us learn from her to continually renew our communion with the Body
of Christ, to love each other as he loved us.
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various
languages. Here is a translation of the some of the remarks he made
in Italian:]
At the United Nations in New York June 24-26 there will be a
conference on the economic and financial crisis and its impact on
development. I pray for the spirit of wisdom and human solidarity
for the participants in this conference and for those who are
responsible for the "res publica" and the fate of the planet so that
the current crisis is transformed into an opportunity to focus
greater attention on the dignity of every human person and to
promote an equal distribution of decisional power and resources,
with particular attention to the number of those living in poverty,
which, unfortunately, is always growing.
On this day in which we celebrate, in Italy and many other nations,
the feast of "Corpus Domini," the bread of life, as I just
mentioned, I would like to especially remember the hundreds of
millions of persons who suffer from hunger. It is an absolutely
unacceptable reality that is hard to control despite the efforts of
recent decades. I hope, therefore, that at the upcoming U.N.
conference and in the headquarters of international institutions the
joint measures are taken by the entire international community and
the strategic decisions are made -- which are sometimes difficult to
accept -- that are necessary to ensure that everyone, in the present
and the future, will have basic nourishment and a dignified life.
Next Friday, the solemnity of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the
Day of Priestly Sanctification, will begin the Year for Priests,
which I wanted to have observed together with the 150th anniversary
of the death of the holy Curé of Ars. I entrust to your prayers this
new spiritual initiative that follows the Pauline Year, which is now
concluding. May this new jubilee year be a propitious occasion to
reflect on the value and importance of the priestly mission and to
ask the Lord to make a gift of many priests to his Church.
I wish everyone a good Sunday.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[In English, the Holy Father said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for
this Angelus prayer. Today's Solemnity of the Body and Blood of
Christ invites us to acknowledge the Lord's saving presence in the
Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. At the Last Supper, on the night
before his death on the Cross, Jesus instituted the sacrament of the
new and eternal covenant between God and man. May this sacrifice of
reconciliation, in which the Risen Lord is truly and substantially
present under the appearances of bread and wine, confirm the Church
in faith, unity and holiness as she awaits his future coming in
glory. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke God's blessings
of joy and peace.
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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