APOSTOLIC LETTER MANE NOBISCUM
DOMINE
OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY
AND FAITHFUL FOR THE YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST
OCTOBER 2004–OCTOBER 2005
INTRODUCTION
1. “Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost
evening” (cf. Lk 24:29). This was the insistent
invitation that the two disciples journeying to
Emmaus on the evening of the day of the
resurrection addressed to the Wayfarer who had
accompanied them on their journey. Weighed down
with sadness, they never imagined that this
stranger was none other than their Master, risen
from the dead. Yet they felt their hearts
burning within them (cf. v. 32) as he spoke to
them and “explained” the Scriptures. The light
of the Word unlocked the hardness of their
hearts and “opened their eyes” (cf. v. 31). Amid
the shadows of the passing day and the darkness
that clouded their spirit, the Wayfarer brought
a ray of light which rekindled their hope and
led their hearts to yearn for the fullness of
light. “Stay with us”, they pleaded. And he
agreed. Soon afterwards, Jesus' face would
disappear, yet the Master would “stay” with
them, hidden in the “breaking of the bread”
which had opened their eyes to recognize him.
2. The image of the disciples on the way to
Emmaus can serve as a fitting guide for a Year
when the Church will be particularly engaged in
living out the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
Amid our questions and difficulties, and even
our bitter disappointments, the divine Wayfarer
continues to walk at our side, opening to us the
Scriptures and leading us to a deeper
understanding of the mysteries of God. When we
meet him fully, we will pass from the light of
the Word to the light streaming from the “Bread
of life”, the supreme fulfilment of his promise
to “be with us always, to the end of the age”
(cf. Mt 28:20).
3. The “breaking of bread”—as the Eucharist was
called in earliest times—has always been at the
centre of the Church's life. Through it Christ
makes present within time the mystery of his
death and resurrection. In it he is received in
person as the “living bread come down from
heaven” (Jn 6:51), and with him we receive the
pledge of eternal life and a foretaste of the
eternal banquet of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Following the teaching of the Fathers, the
Ecumenical Councils and my own Predecessors, I
have frequently urged the Church to reflect upon
the Eucharist, most recently in the Encyclical
Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Here I do not intend to
repeat this teaching, which I trust will be more
deeply studied and understood. At the same time
I thought it helpful for this purpose to
dedicate an entire Year to this wonderful
sacrament.
4. As is known, the Year of the Eucharist will
be celebrated from October 2004 to October 2005.
The idea for this celebration came from two
events which will serve to mark its beginning
and end: the International Eucharistic Congress,
which will take place from 10-17 October 2004 in
Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Ordinary Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops, which will be held in
the Vatican from 2-29 October 2005 on the theme:
“The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life
and Mission of the Church”. I was also guided by
another consideration: this year's World Youth
Day will take place in Cologne from 16-21 August
2005. I would like the young people to gather
around the Eucharist as the vital source which
nourishes their faith and enthusiasm. A
Eucharistic initiative of this kind had been on
my mind for some time: it is a natural
development of the pastoral impulse which I
wanted to give to the Church, particularly
during the years of preparation for the Jubilee
and in the years that followed it.
5. In the present Apostolic Letter, I wish to
reaffirm this pastoral continuity and to help
everyone to grasp its spiritual significance. As
for the particular form which the Year of the
Eucharist will take, I am counting on the
personal involvement of the Pastors of the
particular Churches, whose devotion to this
great Mystery will not fail to suggest suitable
approaches. My Brother Bishops will certainly
understand that this initiative, coming as it
does so soon after the celebration of the Year
of the Rosary, is meant to take place on a
deeply spiritual level, so that it will in no
way interfere with the pastoral programmes of
the individual Churches. Rather, it can shed
light upon those programmes, anchoring them, so
to speak, in the very Mystery which nourishes
the spiritual life of the faithful and the
initiatives of each local Church. I am not
asking the individual Churches to alter their
pastoral programmes, but to emphasize the
Eucharistic dimension which is part of the whole
Christian life. For my part, I would like in
this Letter to offer some basic guidelines; and
I am confident that the People of God, at every
level, will welcome my proposal with enthusiasm
and fervent love.
I
IN THE WAKE OF THE COUNCIL
AND THE GREAT JUBILEE
Looking towards Christ
6. Ten years ago, in Tertio Millennio Adveniente
(10 November 1994), I had the joy of proposing
to the Church a programme of preparation for the
Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. It seemed to me
that this historic moment presented itself as a
great grace. I realized, of course, that a
simple chronological event, however evocative,
could not by itself bring about great changes.
Unfortunately the Millennium began with events
which were in tragic continuity with the past,
and often with its worst aspects. A scenario
emerged which, despite certain positive
elements, is marred by acts of violence and
bloodshed which cause continued concern. Even
so, in inviting the Church to celebrate the
Jubilee of the two-thousandth anniversary of the
Incarnation, I was convinced—and I still am,
more than ever!—that this celebration would be
of benefit to humanity in the “long term”.
Jesus Christ stands at the centre not just of
the history of the Church, but also the history
of humanity. In him, all things are drawn
together (cf. Eph 1:10; Col 1:15-20). How could
we forget the enthusiasm with which the Second
Vatican Council, quoting Pope Paul VI,
proclaimed that Christ is “the goal of human
history, the focal point of the desires of
history and civilization, the centre of mankind,
the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment of all
aspirations”?(1) The Council's teaching gave
added depth to our understanding of the nature
of the Church, and gave believers a clearer
insight not only into the mysteries of faith but
also into earthly realities, seen in the light
of Christ. In the Incarnate Word, both the
mystery of God and the mystery of man are
revealed.(2) In him, humanity finds redemption
and fulfilment.
7. In the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis, at the
beginning of my Pontificate, I developed this
idea, and I have frequently returned to it on
other occasions. The Jubilee was a fitting time
to invite believers once again to consider this
fundamental truth. The preparation for the great
event was fully Trinitarian and Christocentric.
Within this plan, there clearly had to be a
place for the Eucharist. At the start of this
Year of the Eucharist, I repeat the words which
I wrote in Tertio Millennio Adveniente: “The
Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic; in the
Sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took
flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago,
continues to offer himself to humanity as the
source of divine life”.(3) The International
Eucharistic Congress, held that year in Rome,
also helped to focus attention on this aspect of
the Great Jubilee. It is also worth recalling
that my Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, written in
preparation for the Jubilee, invited believers
to meditate on Sunday as the day of the Risen
Lord and the special day of the Church. At that
time I urged everyone to rediscover the
celebration of the Eucharist as the heart of
Sunday.(4)
Contemplating with Mary the face of Christ
8. The fruits of the Great Jubilee were
collected in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio
Ineunte. In this programmatic document, I
suggested an ever greater pastoral engagement
based on the contemplation of the face of
Christ, as part of an ecclesial pedagogy aimed
at “the high standard” of holiness and carried
out especially through the art of prayer.(5) How
could such a programme be complete without a
commitment to the liturgy and in particular to
the cultivation of Eucharistic life? As I said
at the time: “In the twentieth century,
especially since the Council, there has been a
great development in the way the Christian
community celebrates the Sacraments, especially
the Eucharist. It is necessary to continue in
this direction, and to stress particularly the
Sunday Eucharist and Sunday itself, experienced
as a special day of faith, the day of the Risen
Lord and of the gift of the Spirit, the true
weekly Easter”.(6) In this context of a training
in prayer, I recommended the celebration of the
Liturgy of the Hours, by which the Church
sanctifies the different hours of the day and
the passage of time through the liturgical year.
9. Subsequently, with the proclamation of the
Year of the Rosary and the publication of the
Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, I
returned to the theme of contemplating the face
of Christ, now from a Marian perspective, by
encouraging once more the recitation of the
Rosary. This traditional prayer, so highly
recommended by the Magisterium and so dear to
the People of God, has a markedly biblical and
evangelical character, focused on the name and
the face of Jesus as contemplated in the
mysteries and by the repetition of the “Hail
Mary”. In its flow of repetitions, it represents
a kind of pedagogy of love, aimed at evoking
within our hearts the same love that Mary bore
for her Son. For this reason, developing a
centuries-old tradition by the addition of the
mysteries of light, I sought to make this
privileged form of contemplation an even more
complete “compendium of the Gospel”.(7) And how
could the mysteries of light not culminate in
the Holy Eucharist?
From the Year of the Rosary to the Year of the
Eucharist
10. In the midst of the Year of the Rosary, I
issued the Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de
Eucharistia, with the intention of shedding
light on the mystery of the Eucharist in its
inseparable and vital relation to the Church. I
urged all the faithful to celebrate the
Eucharistic sacrifice with due reverence,
offering to Jesus present in the Eucharist, both
within and outside Mass, the worship demanded by
so great a Mystery. Above all, I suggested once
again the need for a Eucharistic spirituality
and pointed to Mary, “woman of the
Eucharist”,(8) as its model.
The Year of the Eucharist takes place against a
background which has been enriched by the
passage of the years, while remaining ever
rooted in the theme of Christ and the
contemplation of his face. In a certain sense,
it is meant to be a year of synthesis, the
high-point of a journey in progress. Much could
be said about how to celebrate this year. I
would simply offer some reflections intended to
help us all to experience it in a deeper and
more fruitful way.
II
THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY OF LIGHT
“He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning himself” (Lk 24:27)
11. The account of the Risen Jesus appearing to
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus helps us
to focus on a primary aspect of the Eucharistic
mystery, one which should always be present in
the devotion of the People of God: The Eucharist
is a mystery of light! What does this mean, and
what are its implications for Christian life and
spirituality?
Jesus described himself as the “light of the
world” (Jn 8:12), and this quality clearly
appears at those moments in his life, like the
Transfiguration and the Resurrection, in which
his divine glory shines forth brightly. Yet in
the Eucharist the glory of Christ remains
veiled. The Eucharist is pre-eminently a
mysterium fidei. Through the mystery of his
complete hiddenness, Christ becomes a mystery of
light, thanks to which believers are led into
the depths of the divine life. By a happy
intuition, Rublëv's celebrated icon of the
Trinity clearly places the Eucharist at the
centre of the life of the Trinity.
12. The Eucharist is light above all because at
every Mass the liturgy of the Word of God
precedes the liturgy of the Eucharist in the
unity of the two “tables”, the table of the Word
and the table of the Bread. This continuity is
expressed in the Eucharistic discourse of Saint
John's Gospel, where Jesus begins his teaching
by speaking of the mystery of his person and
then goes on to draw out its Eucharistic
dimension: “My flesh is food indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:55). We know that
this was troubling for most of his listeners,
which led Peter to express the faith of the
other Apostles and of the Church throughout
history: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the
words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). In the account
of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Christ
himself intervenes to show, “beginning with
Moses and all the prophets”, how “all the
Scriptures” point to the mystery of his person
(cf. Lk 24:27). His words make the hearts of the
disciples “burn” within them, drawing them out
of the darkness of sorrow and despair, and
awakening in them a desire to remain with him:
“Stay with us, Lord” (cf. v. 29).
13. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council,
in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium,
sought to make “the table of the word” offer the
treasures of Scripture more fully to the
faithful.(9) Consequently they allowed the
biblical readings of the liturgy to be
proclaimed in a language understood by all. It
is Christ himself who speaks when the Holy
Scriptures are read in the Church.(10) The
Council Fathers also urged the celebrant to
treat the homily as part of the liturgy, aimed
at explaining the word of God and drawing out
its meaning for the Christian life.(11) Forty
years after the Council, the Year of the
Eucharist can serve as an important opportunity
for Christian communities to evaluate their
progress in this area. It is not enough that the
biblical passages are read in the vernacular, if
they are not also proclaimed with the care,
preparation, devout attention and meditative
silence that enable the word of God to touch
people's minds and hearts.
“They recognized him in the breaking of bread”
(cf. Lk 24:35)
14. It is significant that the two disciples on
the road to Emmaus, duly prepared by our Lord's
words, recognized him at table through the
simple gesture of the “breaking of bread”. When
minds are enlightened and hearts are enkindled,
signs begin to “speak”. The Eucharist unfolds in
a dynamic context of signs containing a rich and
luminous message. Through these signs the
mystery in some way opens up before the eyes of
the believer.
As I emphasized in my Encyclical Ecclesia de
Eucharistia, it is important that no dimension
of this sacrament should be neglected. We are
constantly tempted to reduce the Eucharist to
our own dimensions, while in reality it is we
who must open ourselves up to the dimensions of
the Mystery. “The Eucharist is too great a gift
to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation”.(12)
15. There is no doubt that the most evident
dimension of the Eucharist is that it is a meal.
The Eucharist was born, on the evening of Holy
Thursday, in the setting of the Passover meal.
Being a meal is part of its very structure.
“Take, eat... Then he took a cup and... gave it
to them, saying: Drink from it, all of you” (Mt
26:26, 27). As such, it expresses the fellowship
which God wishes to establish with us and which
we ourselves must build with one another.
Yet it must not be forgotten that the
Eucharistic meal also has a profoundly and
primarily sacrificial meaning.(13) In the
Eucharist, Christ makes present to us anew the
sacrifice offered once for all on Golgotha.
Present in the Eucharist as the Risen Lord, he
nonetheless bears the marks of his passion, of
which every Mass is a “memorial”, as the Liturgy
reminds us in the acclamation following the
consecration: “We announce your death, Lord, we
proclaim your resurrection...”. At the same
time, while the Eucharist makes present what
occurred in the past, it also impels us towards
the future, when Christ will come again at the
end of history. This “eschatological” aspect
makes the Sacrament of the Eucharist an event
which draws us into itself and fills our
Christian journey with hope.
“I am with you always...” (Mt 28:20)
16. All these dimensions of the Eucharist come
together in one aspect which more than any other
makes a demand on our faith: the mystery of the
“real” presence. With the entire tradition of
the Church, we believe that Jesus is truly
present under the Eucharistic species. This
presence—as Pope Paul VI rightly explained—is
called “real” not in an exclusive way, as if to
suggest that other forms of Christ's presence
are not real, but par excellence, because Christ
thereby becomes substantially present, whole and
entire, in the reality of his body and
blood.(14) Faith demands that we approach the
Eucharist fully aware that we are approaching
Christ himself. It is precisely his presence
which gives the other aspects of the Eucharist —
as meal, as memorial of the Paschal Mystery, as
eschatological anticipation — a significance
which goes far beyond mere symbol- ism. The
Eucharist is a mystery of presence, the perfect
fulfilment of Jesus' promise to remain with us
until the end of the world.
Celebrating, worshiping, contemplating
17. The Eucharist is a great mystery! And it is
one which above all must be well celebrated.
Holy Mass needs to be set at the centre of the
Christian life and celebrated in a dignified
manner by every community, in accordance with
established norms, with the participation of the
assembly, with the presence of ministers who
carry out their assigned tasks, and with a
serious concern that singing and liturgical
music be suitably “sacred”. One specific project
of this Year of the Eucharist might be for each
parish community to study the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal. The best way to
enter into the mystery of salvation made present
in the sacred “signs” remains that of following
faithfully the unfolding of the liturgical year.
Pastors should be committed to that
“mystagogical” catechesis so dear to the Fathers
of the Church, by which the faithful are helped
to understand the meaning of the liturgy's words
and actions, to pass from its signs to the
mystery which they contain, and to enter into
that mystery in every aspect of their lives.
18. There is a particular need to cultivate a
lively awareness of Christ's real presence, both
in the celebration of Mass and in the worship of
the Eucharist outside Mass. Care should be taken
to show that awareness through tone of voice,
gestures, posture and bearing. In this regard,
liturgical law recalls—and I myself have
recently reaffirmed(15)—the importance of
moments of silence both in the celebration of
Mass and in Eucharistic adoration. The way that
the ministers and the faithful treat the
Eucharist should be marked by profound
respect.(16) The presence of Jesus in the
tabernacle must be a kind of magnetic pole
attracting an ever greater number of souls
enamoured of him, ready to wait patiently to
hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the
beating of his heart. “O taste and see that the
Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8).
During this year Eucharistic adoration outside
Mass should become a particular commitment for
individual parish and religious communities. Let
us take the time to kneel before Jesus present
in the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by
our faith and love for the acts of carelessness
and neglect, and even the insults which our
Saviour must endure in many parts of the world.
Let us deepen through adoration our personal and
communal contemplation, drawing upon aids to
prayer inspired by the word of God and the
experience of so many mystics, old and new. The
Rosary itself, when it is profoundly understood
in the biblical and christocentric form which I
recommended in the Apostolic Letter Rosarium
Virginis Mariae, will prove a particularly
fitting introduction to Eucharistic
contemplation, a contemplation carried out with
Mary as our companion and guide.(17)
This year let us also celebrate with particular
devotion the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, with
its traditional procession. Our faith in the God
who took flesh in order to become our companion
along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed,
especially in our streets and homes, as an
expression of our grateful love and as an
inexhaustible source of blessings.
III
THE EUCHARIST
SOURCE AND MANIFESTATION
OF COMMUNION
“Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4)
19. When the disciples on the way to Emmaus
asked Jesus to stay “with” them, he responded by
giving them a much greater gift: through the
Sacrament of the Eucharist he found a way to
stay “in” them. Receiving the Eucharist means
entering into a profound communion with Jesus.
“Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). This
relationship of profound and mutual “abiding”
enables us to have a certain foretaste of heaven
on earth. Is this not the greatest of human
yearnings? Is this not what God had in mind when
he brought about in history his plan of
salvation? God has placed in human hearts a
“hunger” for his word (cf. Am 8:11), a hunger
which will be satisfied only by full union with
him. Eucharistic communion was given so that we
might be “sated” with God here on earth, in
expectation of our complete fulfilment in
heaven.
One bread, one body
20. This special closeness which comes about in
Eucharistic “communion” cannot be adequately
understood or fully experienced apart from
ecclesial communion. I emphasized this
repeatedly in my Encyclical Ecclesia de
Eucharistia. The Church is the Body of Christ:
we walk “with Christ” to the extent that we are
in relationship “with his body”. Christ provided
for the creation and growth of this unity by the
outpouring of his Holy Spirit. And he himself
constantly builds it up by his Eucharistic
presence. It is the one Eucharistic bread which
makes us one body. As the Apostle Paul states:
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are
one body, for we all partake of the one bread”
(1Cor 10:17). In the mystery of the Eucharist
Jesus builds up the Church as a communion, in
accordance with the supreme model evoked in his
priestly prayer: “Even as you, Father, are in
me, and I in you, that they may also be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent
me” (Jn 17:21).
21. The Eucharist is both the source of
ecclesial unity and its greatest manifestation.
The Eucharist is an epiphany of communion. For
this reason the Church sets conditions for full
participation in the celebration of the
Eucharist.(18) These various limitations ought
to make us ever more conscious of the demands
made by the communion which Jesus asks of us. It
is a hierarchical communion, based on the
awareness of a variety of roles and ministries,
as is seen by the reference to the Pope and the
Diocesan Bishop in the Eucharistic Prayer. It is
a fraternal communion, cultivated by a
“spirituality of communion” which fosters
reciprocal openness, affection, understanding
and forgiveness.(19)
“... of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32)
22. At each Holy Mass we are called to measure
ourselves against the ideal of communion which
the Acts of the Apostles paints as a model for
the Church in every age. It is the Church
gathered around the Apostles, called by the word
of God, capable of sharing in spiritual goods
but in material goods as well (cf. Acts 2:42-47;
4:32-35). In this Year of the Eucharist the Lord
invites us to draw as closely as possible to
this ideal. Every effort should be made to
experience fully those occasions mentioned in
the liturgy for the Bishop's “Stational Mass”,
which he celebrates in the cathedral together
with his presbyters and deacons, with the
participation of the whole People of God. Here
we see the principal “manifestation” of the
Church.(20) It would be praiseworthy to specify
other significant occasions, also on the
parochial level, which would increase a sense of
communion and find in the Eucharistic
celebration a source of renewed fervour.
The Lord's Day
23. In a particular way I ask that every effort
be made this year to experience Sunday as the
day of the Lord and the day of the Church. I
would be happy if everyone would reflect once
more on my words in the Apostolic Letter Dies
Domini. “At Sunday Mass, Christians relive with
particular intensity the experience of the
Apostles on the evening of Easter, when the
Risen Lord appeared to them as they were
gathered together (cf. Jn 20:19). In a sense,
the People of God of all times were present in
that small nucleus of disciples, the
first-fruits of the Church”.(21) During this
year of grace, priests in their pastoral
ministry should be even more attentive to Sunday
Mass as the celebration which brings together
the entire parish community, with the
participation of different groups, movements and
associations.
IV
THE EUCHARIST, PRINCIPLE AND PLAN OF “MISSION”
“They set out immediately” (cf. Lk 24:33)
24. The two disciples of Emmaus, upon
recognizing the Lord, “set out immediately” (cf.
Lk 24:33), in order to report what they had seen
and heard. Once we have truly met the Risen One
by partaking of his body and blood, we cannot
keep to ourselves the joy we have experienced.
The encounter with Christ, constantly
intensified and deepened in the Eucharist,
issues in the Church and in every Christian an
urgent summons to testimony and evangelization.
I wished to emphasize this in my homily
announcing the Year of the Eucharist, based on
the words of Saint Paul: “As often as you eat
this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). The
Apostle closely relates meal and proclamation:
entering into communion with Christ in the
memorial of his Pasch also means sensing the
duty to be a missionary of the event made
present in that rite.(22) The dismissal at the
end of each Mass is a charge given to
Christians, inviting them to work for the spread
of the Gospel and the imbuing of society with
Christian values.
25. The Eucharist not only provides the interior
strength needed for this mission, but is also
—in some sense—its plan. For the Eucharist is a
mode of being, which passes from Jesus into each
Christian, through whose testimony it is meant
to spread throughout society and culture. For
this to happen, each member of the faithful must
assimilate, through personal and communal
meditation, the values which the Eucharist
expresses, the attitudes it inspires, the
resolutions to which it gives rise. Can we not
see here a special charge which could emerge
from this Year of the Eucharist?
Giving thanks
26. One fundamental element of this plan is
found in the very meaning of the word
“Eucharist”: thanksgiving. In Jesus, in his
sacrifice, in his unconditional “yes” to the
will of the Father, is contained the “yes”, the
“thank you” and the “amen” of all humanity. The
Church is called to remind men and women of this
great truth. This is especially urgent in the
context of our secularized culture,
characterized as it is by a forgetfulness of God
and a vain pursuit of human self-sufficiency.
Incarnating the Eucharistic “plan” in daily
life, wherever people live and work—in families,
schools, the workplace, in all of life's
settings—means bearing witness that human
reality cannot be justified without reference to
the Creator: “Without the Creator the creature
would disappear”.(23) This transcendent point of
reference, which commits us constantly to give
thanks for all that we have and are—in other
words, to a “Eucharistic” attitude—in no way
detracts from the legitimate autonomy of earthly
realities,(24) but grounds that autonomy more
firmly by setting it within its proper limits.
In this Year of the Eucharist Christians ought
to be committed to bearing more forceful witness
to God's presence in the world. We should not be
afraid to speak about God and to bear proud
witness to our faith. The “culture of the
Eucharist” promotes a culture of dialogue, which
here finds strength and nourishment. It is a
mistake to think that any public reference to
faith will somehow undermine the rightful
autonomy of the State and civil institutions, or
that it can even encourage attitudes of
intolerance. If history demonstrates that
mistakes have also been made in this area by
believers, as I acknowledged on the occasion of
the Jubilee, this must be attributed not to
“Christian roots”, but to the failure of
Christians to be faithful to those roots. One
who learns to say “thank you” in the manner of
the crucified Christ might end up as a martyr,
but never as a persecutor.
The way of solidarity
27. The Eucharist is not merely an expression of
communion in the Church's life; it is also a
project of solidarity for all of humanity. In
the celebration of the Eucharist the Church
constantly renews her awareness of being a “sign
and instrument” not only of intimate union with
God but also of the unity of the whole human
race.(25) Each Mass, even when celebrated in
obscurity or in isolation, always has a
universal character. The Christian who takes
part in the Eucharist learns to become a
promotor of communion, peace and solidarity in
every situation. More than ever, our troubled
world, which began the new Millennium with the
spectre of terrorism and the tragedy of war,
demands that Christians learn to experience the
Eucharist as a great school of peace, forming
men and women who, at various levels of
responsibility in social, cultural and political
life, can become promotors of dialogue and
communion.
At the service of the least
28. There is one other point which I would like
to emphasize, since it significantly affects the
authenticity of our communal sharing in the
Eucharist. It is the impulse which the Eucharist
gives to the community for a practical
commitment to building a more just and fraternal
society. In the Eucharist our God has shown love
in the extreme, overturning all those criteria
of power which too often govern human relations
and radically affirming the criterion of
service: “If anyone would be first, he must be
last of all and servant of all” (Mc 9:35). It is
not by chance that the Gospel of John contains
no account of the institution of the Eucharist,
but instead relates the “washing of feet” (cf.
Jn 13:1-20): by bending down to wash the feet of
his disciples, Jesus explains the meaning of the
Eucharist unequivocally. Saint Paul vigorously
reaffirms the impropriety of a Eucharistic
celebration lacking charity expressed by
practical sharing with the poor (cf.1Cor
11:17-22, 27-34).
Can we not make this Year of the Eucharist an
occasion for diocesan and parish communities to
commit themselves in a particular way to
responding with fraternal solicitude to one of
the many forms of poverty present in our world?
I think for example of the tragedy of hunger
which plagues hundreds of millions of human
beings, the diseases which afflict developing
countries, the loneliness of the elderly, the
hardships faced by the unemployed, the struggles
of immigrants. These are evils which are
present—albeit to a different degree—even in
areas of immense wealth. We cannot delude
ourselves: by our mutual love and, in
particular, by our concern for those in need we
will be recognized as true followers of Christ
(cf. Jn 13:35; Mt 25:31-46). This will be the
criterion by which the authenticity of our
Eucharistic celebrations is judged.
CONCLUSION
29. O Sacrum Convivium, in quo Christus sumitur!
The Year of the Eucharist has its source in the
amazement with which the Church contemplates
this great Mystery. It is an amazement which I
myself constantly experience. It prompted my
Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia. As I look
forward to the twenty-seventh year of my Petrine
ministry, I consider it a great grace to be able
to call the whole Church to contemplate, praise,
and adore in a special way this ineffable
Sacrament. May the Year of the Eucharist be for
everyone a precious opportunity to grow in
awareness of the incomparable treasure which
Christ has entrusted to his Church. May it
encourage a more lively and fervent celebration
of the Eucharist, leading to a Christian life
transformed by love.
There is room here for any number of
initiatives, according to the judgement of the
Pastors of the particular Churches. The
Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments will not fail to
provide some helpful suggestions and proposals.
I do not ask, however, for anything
extraordinary, but rather that every initiative
be marked by a profound interiority. If the only
result of this Year were the revival in all
Christian communities of the celebration of
Sunday Mass and an increase in Eucharistic
worship outside Mass, this Year of grace would
be abundantly successful. At the same time, it
is good to aim high, and not to be content with
mediocrity, since we know we can always count on
God's help.
30. To you, dear Brother Bishops, I commend this
Year, confident that you will welcome my
invitation with full apostolic zeal.
Dear priests, who repeat the words of
consecration each day, and are witnesses and
heralds of the great miracle of love which takes
place at your hands: be challenged by the grace
of this special Year; celebrate Holy Mass each
day with the same joy and fervour with which you
celebrated your first Mass, and willingly spend
time in prayer before the tabernacle.
May this be a Year of grace also for you,
deacons, who are so closely engaged in the
ministry of the word and the service of the
altar. I ask you, lectors, acolytes and
extraordinary ministers of holy communion, to
become ever more aware of the gift you have
received in the service entrusted to you for a
more worthy celebration of the Eucharist.
In particular I appeal to you, the priests of
the future. During your time in the seminary
make every effort to experience the beauty not
only of taking part daily in Holy Mass, but also
of spending a certain amount of time in dialogue
with the Eucharistic Lord.
Consecrated men and women, called by that very
consecration to more prolonged contemplation:
never forget that Jesus in the tabernacle wants
you to be at his side, so that he can fill your
hearts with the experience of his friendship,
which alone gives meaning and fulfilment to your
lives.
May all of you, the Christian faithful,
rediscover the gift of the Eucharist as light
and strength for your daily lives in the world,
in the exercise of your respective professions
amid so many different situations. Rediscover
this above all in order to experience fully the
beauty and the mission of the family.
I have great expectations of you, young people,
as I look forward to our meeting at the next
World Youth Day in Cologne. The theme of our
meeting—“We have come to worship him”—suggests
how you can best experience this Eucharistic
year. Bring to your encounter with Jesus, hidden
in the Eucharist, all the enthusiasm of your
age, all your hopes, all your desire to love.
31. We have before us the example of the Saints,
who in the Eucharist found nourishment on their
journey towards perfection. How many times did
they shed tears of profound emotion in the
presence of this great mystery, or experience
hours of inexpressible “spousal” joy before the
sacrament of the altar! May we be helped above
all by the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose whole life
incarnated the meaning of the Eucharist. “The
Church, which looks to Mary as a model, is also
called to imitate her in her relationship with
this most holy mystery”.(26) The Eucharistic
Bread which we receive is the spotless flesh of
her Son: Ave verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine.
In this Year of grace, sustained by Mary, may
the Church discover new enthusiasm for her
mission and come to acknowledge ever more fully
that the Eucharist is the source and summit of
her entire life.
To all of you I impart my Blessing as a pledge
of grace and joy.
From the Vatican, on 7 October, the Memorial of
Our Lady of the Rosary, in the year 2004, the
twenty-sixth of my Pontificate.
IOANNES PAULUS PP.II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 45.
(2) Cf. ibid., 22.
(3) No. 55: AAS 87 (1995), 38.
(4) Cf. Nos. 32-34: AAS 90 (1998), 732-734.
(5) Cf. Nos. 30-32: AAS 93 (2001), 287-289.
(6) Ibid., 35: loc. cit., 290-291.
(7) Cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis
Mariae (16 October 2002), 19-21: AAS 95
(2003), 18-20.
(8) Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia
(17 April 2003), 53: AAS 95 (2003), 469.
(9) Cf. No. 51.
(10) Ibid., 7.
(11) Cf ibid., 52.
(12) Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de
Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 10: AAS 95
(2003), 439.
(13) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 10:
AAS 95 (2003), 439. Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum on
certain matters to be observed or to be avoided
regarding the Most Holy Eucharist (25 March
2004), 38: L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly
Edition in English, 28 April 2004, Special
Insert, p.3.
(14) Cf. Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei
(3 September 1965), 39: AAS 57 (1965), 764;
Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction
Eucharisticum Mysterium on the Worship of
the Eucharistic Mystery (25 May 1967), 9: AAS 59
(1967), 547.
(15) Cf. Message Spiritus et Sponsa, for
the fortieth anniversary of the Constitution on
the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium
(4 December 2003), 13: AAS 96 (2004), 425.
(16) Cf. Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction
Redemptionis Sacramentum on certain matters
to be observed or to be avoided regarding the
Most Holy Eucharist (25 March 2004):
L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in
English, 28 April 2004, Special Insert.
(17) Cf. ibid., 137, loc. cit., p.11.
(18) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter
Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 44: AAS
95 (2003), 462; Code of Canon Law, canon 908;
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon
702; Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, Directorium Oecumenicum (25 March 1993),
122-125, 129-131: AAS 85 (1993), 1086-1089;
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
Letter Ad Exsequendam (18 May 2001): AAS 93
(2001), 786.
(19) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo
Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 43: AAS
93 (2001), 297.
(20) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41.
(21) No. 33: AAS 90 (1998), 733.
(22) Cf. Homily for the Solemnity of the Body
and Blood of Christ (10 June 2004):
L'Osservatore Romano, 11-12 June 2004, p.6.
(23) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et Spes, 36.
(24) Ibid.
(25) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Pastoral Constitution on the Church Lumen
Gentium, 1.
(26) John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia
de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 53: AAS 95
(2003), 469.
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