Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called attention to World Blood Donor Day, celebrated
on this coming Thursday, June 14th, under the sposorship of the World Health
Organization. The Holy Father thanked everyone who gives blood, expressing his great
appreciation for that form of solidarity, which, he said, is “indispensable to so
many sick people.” Listen:
The Pope’s
remarks came after the Angelus prayer with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s
Square.
Speaking ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy
Father recalled the great Eucharistic feast day marked in many places around the world
on Sunday: the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
– the feast of Corpus Domini or Corpus Christi. The Pope discussed the
importance of the Corpus Christi feast as a great public act of Eucharistic
worship – evidenced especially in the many Eucharistic processions held in parishes
and dioceses around the world. He also noted the emphasis the feast places on Eucharistic
adoration as a central and integral part of the life of individual Christians, of
faith communities and of the whole Church.
The Pope returned to discuss the
importance of Corpus Christi in his words to the English-speaking pilgrims
gathered in the Square:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims present for
this Angelus prayer. Today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ celebrates
the Lord’s saving presence in the Most Holy Eucharist. At the Last Supper, on the
night before his death on the Cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist as the sacrament
of the new and eternal covenant between God and man. May this sacrifice of forgiveness
and reconciliation strengthen the Church in faith, unity and holiness. Upon all of
you I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace!
The thoughts of Pope Benedict
also turned especially to the Italian communities affected by the recent earthquake
in the Emilia Romagna region. In churches, the most sacred place is precisely that
in which guards the Eucharist – and the Holy Father noted how, in the many churches
that were severely damaged by the quake, the tabernacle in some cases remained under
the rubble.
The Pope spoke of how, with the churches destroyed, communities
must for the time being come together for Mass outdoors or in large tents. “It is,”
he said, “a situation that highlights even more the importance of being united in
the name of the Lord, and the strength that comes from the Eucharistic Bread, also
called ‘bread of pilgrims.’” The Pope went on to say, “From the sharing of this bread,
there is born and is renewed the ability to share life and property, to carry each
other’s burdens, the capacity for hospitality and welcome.”