Pope says Sunday Mass essential to Catholic Life, Charity

(June 17, 2010) Participation at Sunday Mass and reception of the Eucharist are central to the life of Catholics because they are a clear expression of belief in the sacrifice of Christ, they create community and motivate charity, Pope Benedict XVI said. "In our day, people don't love the word 'sacrifice,' which seems to belong to another age and another way of understanding life. However, when it is properly understood, it remains fundamental because it reveals how much God, in Christ, loves us," the pope said June 15 in an address to the Rome diocesan pastoral conference. With an evening speech at Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, the pope opened the diocese's three-day conference, which focused on finding ways to help Catholics understand the importance of the Sunday Eucharist and the essential role of charity in Catholic life. Parishes, the priests' council, lay groups and special ministries throughout the diocese held preparatory listening sessions and conferences to draw up recommendations for the 300 delegates attending the June gathering. While the majority of Rome's citizens are baptized Catholics, "faith can never be assumed because every generation needs to receive this gift through the proclamation of the Gospel and knowledge of the truth which Christ has revealed to us," the pope said.