Pope: "Due Honour to Eucharistic Rite"- Dublin to Host Congress 2012
(22 June 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI linked up live to the tens of thousands of pilgrims from the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe, gathered on the Plain of Abraham in Quebec Canada, this Sunday where they were celebrating Mass marking the end of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.
Giant screens carried the Pope’s image and words across the meadow, delivered from the apostolic palace here at the Vatican.
Speaking in both French and English, Pope Benedict’s message was clear, “Sunday is the day we honour Christ, we need to rediscover, understand and respectfully celebrate the Sunday Eucharist”.
He called for a renewal of Eucharistic catechesis and awareness among priest and lay Catholics that the liturgy does not belong to us; that it is the Churches treasure:
“I urge priests especially to give due honour to the Eucharistic rite and I ask all the faithful to respect the role of each individual, both priest and lay in the Eucharistic action”.
Eucharistic Action, was another aspect examined during this weeks congress and underlined by the Pope as well as the call to ‘Communion’:.
“It is by receiving the Body of Christ that we receive the strength of “unity with God and with one another”. We must never forget that the Church is built around Christ….and that the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church’s unity because we all form one single body of which the Lord is the head. We must go back again and again to the Last Supper on Holy Thursday…..the Last Supper is the locus of the nascent Church, the womb containing the Church of every age…”
Concluding his reflections on the 49th Congress Pope Benedict noted that: “….Sunday, the first day of the week is the day when we honour Christ, the day when we receive the strength to live each day the gift of God”.
And them to the delight of one delegation from across the Atlantic ocean, the Holy Father revealed where the 50th International Eucharistic Congress will be held:
“Dear Friends, as this significant event in the life of the Church draws to a close I invite you to join me in praying for the Success of the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2012 in the city of Dublin! I take this opportunity to greet warmly the people of Ireland, as they prepare to host this ecclesial gathering. I am confident that they, together with all the participants at the next Congress, will find it a source of lasting spiritual renewal”.
| All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©. |