VATICAN - Pope on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi: “Nourished by Christ, as His disciples we receive the mission to be 'the soul' of our city, yeast for renewal, bread 'broken' for all, especially for those living in situations of difficulty, poverty, and spiritual and physical suffering.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, June 11, the Holy Father Benedict XVI celebrated the Mass on the esplanade in front of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, later presiding the Eucharistic Procession that passed down the Via Merulana, making its way to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he gave the Eucharistic Blessing. Here are several passages from the Holy Father's homily on “This is my Body; this is my Blood.”
“This is my Blood.” There is a clear reference here to sacrificial words of Israel. Jesus presents himself as the true and definitive sacrifice, in which the expiation of sins takes place and which, in the rites of the Old Testament, had not yet been completely fulfilled. This expression is followed by another two important phrases. First of all, Jesus says that His Blood is “shed for many” with an understandable reference to the hymns of the [Suffering] Servant, found in the Book of Isaiah (Cf. Cap. 53). Adding 'blood of the covenant,' Jesus showed that through his death, the prophesy of the new covenant based on the fidelity and infinite love of His Son becoming man, is realized...it was during the Last Supper that He established this new covenant with His disciples and with humanity, confirming it not with the sacrifices of animals, as in the past, but with His own Blood, which became the “Blood of the New Covenant.” Thus, He established it upon His own obedience, which was stronger, as I have said, than all our sins.
This is seen in the Second Reading, taken from the Letter to the Hebrews, in which the sacred writer declares that Jesus is the 'mediator of the New Covenant' (9:15). He has become this thanks to His Blood, or to be more precise, thanks to His self-immolation, which gives complete value to the shedding of His Blood. On the Cross, Jesus is both victim and priest: worthy victim of God as He is without stain and High Priest who offers Himself, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and intercedes for all humanity. The Cross is, therefore, the mystery of love and salvation, which purifies us – as the Letter to the Hebrews says – from the “dead works,” that is from sins, and sanctifies us by engraving the New Covenant in our hearts. The Eucharist, in renewing the sacrifice of the Cross, enables us to live faithfully in communion with God...Your numerous presence here, dear friends, shows that our community, characterized by a plurality of cultures and diverse experiences...God makes it His People, as the One Body of Christ, thanks to our sincere participation at the double altar of the Word and the Eucharist. Nourished by Christ, as His disciples we receive the mission to be 'the soul' of our city, yeast for renewal, bread 'broken' for all, especially for those living in situations of difficulty, poverty, and spiritual and physical suffering. We become witnesses of His love.
I speak to you in particular, my dear priests, who Christ chose so that together with him you can live your life in sacrifice and praise for the salvation of the world. Only through union with Christ will you be able to draw on a spiritual wealth that generates hope for your pastoral ministry. St. Leo Magnus reminds us that our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ only aims to become what we receive’ (Sermo 12, De Passione 3,7, PL 54). If this is true for every Christian, it is to an even greater degree for us priests. Being Eucharist! This must be our constant desire and duty so that the sacrifice of our existence accompanies our offering of the Body and Blood of Christ at the altar. Every day, from the Body and Blood of the Lord we find that free and pure love that renders us worthy ministers of the Christ and witnesses of its joy. It is this that the faithful expect in a priest: the example of an authentic devotion for the Eucharist; they love to see him spend long moments of silence and adoration in front of Jesus as did Saint Curato d' Ars, who we will particularly remember during the imminent Year for Priests...Aware of the fact that we are unworthy because of our sins, but in need of being nourished by the Love that the Lord offers us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we renew our faith this evening in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We should never take our faith for granted! Today there is a risk of insidious secularization, even inside the Church. This could translate into a formal but empty Eucharistic worship, in celebrations lacking that involvement of the heart which finds expression in veneration and respect for the liturgy. There is always a strong temptation to reduce prayer to superficial and hurried moments, allowing ourselves to be overcome by earthly activities and concerns...With the Eucharist, heaven comes down to earth, God's tomorrow descends into the present moment and time is, as it were, embraced by divine eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, as is the case every year, at the end of the Mass, we will have the traditional Eucharistic Procession and we will elevate, with prayers and songs, a chorus of invocations to the Lord present in the Consecrated Host. We will ask the Lord in the name of the entire city: Stay with us, Jesus, make us a gift of Yourself and give us the bread that nourishes us for eternal life. Free this world from the poison of evil, from the violence and hatred that pollute people's consciences, purify it with the power of Your merciful love. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 12/6/2009)