2006-06-16 14:55:15

Pope Benedict XVI leads Corpus Christi procession through Rome


(16 June 2006) : More than 50 thousand faithful gathered at the plaza outside Rome’s St. John Lateran Basilica on Thursday evening when Pope Benedict delivered a homily during a Mass for the feast of Corpus Christi. The Holy Father led the faithful after the Mass to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in a traditional Corpus Christi procession which ended with Benediction. In a brief but profound meditation the Holy Father spoke about the significance of the bread used in the Eucharist. He said, “the transubstantiation of poor man’s bread into the Body of Christ is both synthesis of creation and a means by which creation is raised to the divine. The celebrant refers to this bread as “fruit of the earth and work of human hands”,” the Pope noted. The phrase acknowledges that man’s work is involved in making bread, but also that man relies on God for his substances, since “the fact that earth bears fruit is the work of God, not anything man has done.” In the Sacrifice of the Mass this bread – food that is accessible even to the poorest of men – provides an encounter between lowly man and his almighty Creator,” Pope Benedict said. Contemplating this ordinary bread, the Pope said, the believer is "struck with awe at the way in which Jesus transforms his host into his very Self." At the same time, the Eucharist draws together all of the faithful, sharing the same supernatural food, united in Christ's Body, Pope Benedict concluded. The feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated in Rome each year on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday.
 












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