Pope marks Corpus Christi feast

(June 4, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday marked the solemn feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ, reminding priests that they are “tied” to the Eucharist. This is clearest in the relationship between the Eucharist and Christ’s own priesthood, the Pope said during a Mass in the basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome. In many countries the feast of Corpus Christi is marked on Sunday. Stormy weather forced the Mass to shift indoors from Rome’s St. John Lateran Square and the traditional Eucharistic procession through the streets of the city was cancelled. In his homily the Pope explained how the priesthood of Christ was different from the ritual concept of religion, that is tied to ritual purity rather than to observing the commandments of God – that of love for God and neighbour, which is ‘worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ Christ revealed his priesthood in the gesture at the Last Supper when in the transformation of bread and wine He summed up His whole self and mission. In the Eucharist, the Pope said, “Jesus anticipated his sacrifice, not a ritual sacrifice, but a personal one. By transforming the bread and wine, Jesus accepts in advance the act of giving all of Himself to us. This love, the Holy Father said, is nothing but the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and the Son that realized the Incarnation of the Word, and that transforms extreme violence and extreme injustice into the supreme act of love and justice. This priesthood of Christ is carried out by the Church, both in the common priesthood of the baptized and that of ordained ministers, in order to transform the world with the love of God, the Pope said.