2010
LIVING THE EUCHARISTIC MYSTERY
Homily
at Solemn Mass in conclusion of the Eucharistic Convention
Diocese of Auckland, NZ on Mercy Sunday
11 April 2010
+ Francis Cardinal Arinze
At this concluding Mass of our Eucharistic Convention, the grace-filled events
of these three days are saying to us: Go now to live and share what we have
celebrated, received, meditated, prayed and sung.
The importance of our participation in the Eucharistic Celebration, especially
on Sundays, stands out. We must have Eucharistic hunger to receive Jesus in
this great Sacrament. Adequate preparation is needed. And Eucharistic veneration
continues outside Mass. The Holy Eucharist sends us on mission.
A prayerful meditation on these five elements will be of help to us as we depart.
1. Sunday Mass
On the first day of the week (i.e. Sunday) the early Christians “gathered together to break bread: (Acts 20:7). Sunday is “the day when Christ conquered death and gave us a share in his immortal life” (Roman Missal: in some Eucharistic Prayers; cf also Dies Domini, 34). It is also the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Blessed Virgin Mary, the apostles and other disciples. From the earliest centuries the Church has observed Sunday as the Day of the Lord. It is also the Day of the Church when the Christian community gathers to worship the Lord, to listen to the teaching of the Apostles and to pray as a family.
It is therefore normal that the Eucharist Celebration on Sunday is given great importance. While the Church celebrates Mass every day (except on Good Friday) the Sunday Eucharist has special importance. A convinced Catholic has no need of a law to compel him or her to come to Sunday Mass. It was only when the faith of some people grew cold that the Church found it necessary to expressly say that Sunday Eucharist is obligatory (cf C.I.C. 1247; Dies Domini, 46-49).
Each of us should be convinced that the most important activity on a Sunday or Feast day of Obligation is participation at Holy Mass. This is more important than sports, or visiting of friends, or twelve-course banquets or watching television. A Sunday without Mass is empty. The 40 martyrs of Abitina, in Proconsular Africa laid down their lives during the persecution of Diocletian because they did not want to renounce Sunday Mass. “We cannot live without the Lord’s Supper”, they said (Acta SS. Saturnini, Dativi et aliorum plurimorum Martyrum in Africa, 7,9,10: PL 8,707,709-710; quoted in Dies Domini, 46).
In the First Reading of this Second Sunday of Easter, we are told that the early Christians used to meet in the Portico of Solomon. In the Gospel, the doubting Apostle Thomas puts his finger in the pierced side of the Risen Christ and confesses his faith: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28). Let us thank Jesus for his love and mercy in giving us himself in the Holy Eucharist. If we can go to Mass daily, well and good. But at least on Sunday let us not fail to take part with the Christian community at the Eucharistic Celebration.
2. Eucharistic Hunger
We must have intense desire to receive Jesus in Holy Communion. He himself has spoken to us clearly: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you ... For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:53,55).
We receive the whole Christ, whether we receive him under one species or under both forms, even though “the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds” (General Inst. on Roman Missal, 240; cf also CCC, 1390).
“The Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the Holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily” (CCC 1389). The minimum is to receive the Eucharist once a year, if possible during the Easter season (cf C.I.C. can. 920).
Spiritual Communion, or a loving desire to receive Christ when actual reception is not possible, is also to be encouraged.
3. Due Preparation Before Receiving Jesus
St. Paul warns the Corinthians that due preparation is necessary before one receives Holy Communion: “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Cor 11 : 28-30).
That is why Canon Law demands that anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession (cf C.I.C. canon 916; CCC, 1385). Pope Benedict XVI sadly remarks: “We know that the faithful are surrounded by a culture that tends to eliminate the sense of sin and to promote a superficial approach that overlooks the need to be in a state of grace in order to approach sacramental communion worthily” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 20). Every Catholic should be attentive never to approach the sacred table in mortal sin, because that would be a sacrilege.
The law to fast at least one hour before receiving Holy Communion is not difficult to observe. And common sense advises us to dress properly, to observe silence and to pray before and after receiving Jesus.
4. Eucharistic Worship Outside Mass
After Mass, the real presence of Jesus continues in the consecrated Host reserved in the tabernacle. Thus the Holy Eucharist can be brought to the sick. As faith in the real presence deepened, manifestations of this faith took various forms. Examples are visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament to adore Jesus, to express love for him, to thank him, or simply to remain in his presence with loving attention. Eucharistic adoration can be done by individuals or groups. Some parishes can organize if for hours or for a whole day.
The Church of the Latin Rite has also held in high honour Eucharistic Benediction, Procession and Congress. There is an International Eucharistic Congress once every four years and it lasts for an entire week. May God bless all those who have arranged the present Diocesan Eucharistic Convention (cf CCC, 1379; Sacramentum Caritatis, 66-69).
5. Eucharist Sends us on Mission
At the end of Mass the deacon, or the priest, says to us “The Mass is ended. Go in Peace”. At the request of the 2005 Synod of Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI has added three alternatives to this dismissal instruction. “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord”, “Go in peace and glorify the Lord by your life”, or simply “Go in peace” (cf Roman Missal, 3rd Revised Edition, Vatican City, 2008 p. 605).
The reason for these more explicit formulae is to stress the missionary dimension of the Eucharistic Celebration. The Mass sends us on mission. “The liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (mission) of the faithful, so that they may fulfil God’s will in their daily lives” (CCC, 1332). We are sent to live our faith, to share it with others and to show Christian solidarity with the needy, the poor and the suffering (cf CCC, 1397). “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented” (Benedict XVI: Deus Caritas Est, 14). And the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, says that the authenticity of our Eucharistic Celebration can be judged from the attention we pay to the needy (Mane Nobiscum Domine, 28).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, may our Blessed Mother, the ever Virgin Mary, obtain for us the grace to live the message of this Eucharistic Convention.
To our Eucharistic Jesus, be honour and glory for ever and ever.
Signed: + Francis Cardinal Arinze
11
April, 2010
www.eucharistic-convention.com