Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - Contemplation of the mystery of the Eucharist in the missionary dimension was the subject of Pope Benedict XVI’s midday reflection before the Angelus prayer on Sunday 2 October. The Holy Father told those present in St Peter’s Square he had just presided the solemn Mass to open the 11th ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops which for three weeks will reflect on the "Eucharist: source and summit of the life and mission of the Church". “Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist authoritatively defined by the Council of Trent, must be understood, lived and handed on again and again in a new way in keeping with the times - the Pope said -. The Eucharist may be seen as a “lens” though which to verify continually the face and journey of the Church which Christ founded that every man and woman may know of God’s love and find it in fullness of life”.
Benedict XVI then recalled that Pope John Paul II wished to dedicate a whole year to the Eucharist and that it should close at the end of the Synod on 23 October, Mission Sunday. “This coincidence- the Pope said - helps us to contemplate the Eucharistic mystery in its missionary perspective. The Eucharist in fact is the propelling centre of all the Church’s evangelising activity, somewhat like the heart in the human body. Without the celebration of the Eucharist where they are nourished at the table of the Word and Body of Christ, Christian communities would lose their authentic nature: only because they are “Eucharistic” can they offer mankind Christ, not only ideas of values however lofty and important. The Eucharist has shaped illustrious missionary apostles in every state of life: bishops, priests, religious, lay people; saints of active and contemplative life. We think on the one hand of St Francis Xavier fired by love for Christ to go to the far East to announce the Gospel; on the other, Saint Therese of Lisieux, a young Carmelite nun, whose feast we celebrated yesterday. In the cloister she lived her ardent apostolic spirit deserving to be proclaimed with St Francis Xavier patron of the Church’s missionary activity.”
Lastly, the Pope recalled that October is the month of the Rosary and he encouraged those present to reread Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae “and to put its indications into practice at the individual, family and community level”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/10/2005; righe 30, parole 401)
