| 16 - 10.10.2005 SUMMARY
♦ TWELFTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2005 - AFTERNOON)
♦ SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
♦ TWELFTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (MONDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2005 - AFTERNOON)
● INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
At 4:30 p.m. today, Monday 10 October 2005, with the prayer Pro Felici Synodi Exitu, the Twelfth General Congregation began for the continuation of the interventions of the Synod Fathers in the Hall on the Synodal theme The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.
The President Delegate on duty was H.Em. Card. Francis ARINZE, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
● INTERVENTIONS IN THE HALL (CONTINUATION)
In this Twelfth General Congregation the following Fathers intervened:
- H.E. Most. Rev. François-Xavier YOMBANDJE, Bishop of Bossangoa, President of the Episcopal Conference (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC)
- H. Em. Card. Ivan DIAS, Archbishop of Bombay (INDIA)
- Most. Rev. Ab. Andrea PANTALONI, O.S.B. Silv., General Abbot of the Silvestrine Benedictine Congregation
- H. Em. Card. Julián HERRANZ, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (VATICAN CITY)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph Anthony ZZIWA, Bishop of Kiyinda-Mityana (UGANDA)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Johannes Gerardus Maria van BURGSTEDEN, S.S.S., Titular Bishop of Tibili, Auxiliary of Haarlem (NETHERLANDS)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Adalberto MARTÍNEZ FLORES, Bishop of San Lorenzo (PARAGUAY)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Albino MAMEDE CLETO, Bishop of Coimbra (PORTUGAL)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Nicholas CHIA, Archbishop of Singapore, President of the Episcopal Conference (Singapore, SINGAPORE)
- Rev. Father John CORRIVEAU, O.F.M. Cap., General Minister of the Franciscan Order of Capucine Friars Minor
- H.E. Most. Rev. Alfredo Víctor PETIT VERGEL, Titular Bishop of Buslacena, Auxiliary of San Cristóbal de La Habana (CUBA)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Karl-Heinz WIESEMANN, Titular Bishop of Macriana minore, Auxiliary of Paderborn (GERMANY)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Cornelius Kipng'eno ARAP KORIR, Bishop of Eldoret, President of the Episcopal Conference (KENYA)
Below are summaries of the interventions:
- H.E. Most. Rev. François-Xavier YOMBANDJE, Bishop of Bossangoa, President of the Episcopal Conference (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC)
Our age needs to rediscover awe. St Francis calls us back to awe - to surprise and amazement at how God is constantly taking the initiative in our regard. This is vital for those of us who live in a culture where nothing amazes us any more because everything is the product of human planning and organization. Humanity appears as the product of its own experimentations, leaving no room for surprise and novelty.
God's humility does surprise us. We are moved by his initiative towards us, touched in the depths of our being. "Although he was in the form of God, Jesus Christ did not cling to his equality with God" (Ph 2: 6) This kenosis in a certain sense continues in the Eucharist. Awe arises in our hearts when we allow this humble self-abasement of God in Eucharist to resonate in our lives.
"See, I am with you till the end of the world" (Mt. 28: 20). Francis puts together Christ's promise during his last appearance to His apostles with His Eucharistic presence in the Church. We are struck by the simplicity with which Francis looks at the Eucharistic mystery. St Francis constructs an impressive analogy between the descent of Jesus into the womb of the Virgin Mary and the descent onto the altar during Mass. It is the same event that continues to happen again. (cf Adm. 1)
It is important that the Christian community re-discover the profound link between the Eucharistic mystery and the circumstances of everyday life, starting from fraternal relationships and broadening out to embrace the whole of creation. Thus arises the circular movement inherent in the Christian life: the Eucharist will impel us to form fraternal relationships in the Church, in society and with the whole creation. Work for the promotion of a true brotherhood/sisterhood of peace among people and for the protection of creation will encourage us to recognize in the Eucharist the only adequate foundation for our life and action.
[00213-02.05] [IN177] [Original text: English]
- H. Em. Card. Ivan DIAS, Archbishop of Bombay (INDIA)
The mystical dimension of the Eucharistic mystery which must be made present every time a priest offers Holy Mass. There are myriads of invisible witnesses who surround him as he re-enacts the August sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. At every celebration of Holy Mass, the celebrant and his congregation must be aware of the "communion of saints", which unites the faith, hope and love of all the members of the Church Universal: the expectant faith of the People of God on earth, the hope of the holy souls in Purgatory and the love of those surrounding the throne of God Almighty. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass thus mingles the Magnificat of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Hallelujah and Hosanna of the Angels and Saints in heaven, the Kyrie eleison of the holy souls in Purgatory, and the Maranatha of all the faithful on earth.
The adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament is available to everyone, even to Catholics who for any reason cannot receive Jesus in Holy Communion and to persons of other faiths. In the Synod sessions, among the many shadows in our Church today, the decreasing numbers of church-goers, the waning interest in sacramental confession, and the lack of catechesis has been mentioned. These problems have been in the Church always, albeit in different ways. On the other hand, the Church has also had persons who have tackled such situations in ways which can inspire us even today. Everyone knows of the saintly Cure of Ars and great apostle of the confessional, John Mary Vianney, and of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the brilliant speaker who reached millions of persons through his television and radio broadcasts, The secret of their resounding success was the many hours they spent in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. They could well be role models for priests and bishops today.
There is a Chinese proverb which says: Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. As we are immersed in the darkness of spiritual and moral ills all around us, would it not be wonderful if bishops and priests all over the world would spend an hour in praise and worship before the Blessed Sacrament everyday interceding for themselves, for the faithful entrusted to their pastoral care and for the needs of the whole Church. Their flocks would certainly be edified and encouraged at seeing their shepherds practising what they preach on devotion to the Blessed Eucharist. Pope Paul VI has well said that "our contemporaries listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers it is because they are witnesses".
[00217-02.04] [IN181] [Original text: English]
- Most. Rev. Ab. Andrea PANTALONI, O.S.B. Silv., General Abbot of the Silvestrine Benedictine Congregation
In particular, I refer to numbers 68 and 69.
It is necessary for me, to stress that the Eucharistic mystery finds its origin and its foundation in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. A historical fact. I suggest that the Synod reaffirms the certitude of faith of the resurrection of the flesh for the faithful who eat the body of the Lord and drink His Blood: anyone who eats this bread will live for ever (Jn 6:58).
The Fathers of the Church, convinced of this, wrote about this. St. Cyril of Alexandria in the Comment on the Gospel of John, book 10: ... the Savior Himself says: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person (Jn 6:56). The importance of this work deserves attention: Christ does not say that He will come in us only because of a certain sentimental relationship, but also for a participation of nature. In fact, as if someone dissolves two pieces of wax together in a fire, the two becoming one piece, in the same way, communicating with the body of Christ and with His precious blood, we become one thing with Him, He in us and we in Him. What is corruptible, by its very nature, cannot be vivified in any other way, if not through being united bodily with the body of whom ,by His very nature, is the Life, i.e. the only-begotten Son.
The Saints lived the Eucharistic mystery with the idea of the Resurrection. ... dilectus Domini Benedictus, corpore et sanguine Dominico munitus, ..., erectis in coelum manibus, inter verba orationsis spiritum efflavit, .... It is both prayer and praise that the over 40.000 men and women, who follow the Benedictine Rule in the world, pray daily still today.
In numbers 68 and 69 and in the whole Instrumentum Laboris, Eschatology is in the shadow. Awaiting the Lord is the title, but then death is not spoken of as the passage to eternity; of the Viaticum as the pledge of future resurrection of the flesh... In No. 9, the Christian sense of life is spoken about, but there is no mention later of the resurrection of the flesh of the believer. Therefore, I share the inadequacy in the Instrumentum Laboris on the Eschatology expressed in No. 68. This inadequacy places further emphasis on the need to make the proclamation of the Resurrection and the certitude of faith in our personal resurrection one of the focal points of the Synod. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ - worthily, writes Saint Paul - is the sure pledge, the principle and the seed of the resurrection of our flesh. The mission of the Church is to proclaim this resurrection of the flesh, everything else becomes less and will never be the Gospel.
Even the world, in this year of the Lord 2005, despite the difficulties and the contradictions of various sorts, aspires to happiness and to the bread of life of the soul and of the body. The lack or weakness of faith lead to the creation of new idols. Not only man, but all of creation await the new heavens and the new world and the recapitulation of all things, even the ones of the earth, in Christ.
I believe that the urgent problem of todays people is more the preoccupation if there is something after death! And this is the proprium of Christianity: the resurrection of the flesh, which the Eucharist proclaims and offers.
Other problems, such as ecology, are important, however - in the Synod - they are used only to take the attention away from the substance. I do not believe they should be connected to the Eucharist, they could only distract ones attention.
This proprium of Christianity can and must be offered to the world. If one doesnt understand the relationship between the Eucharist and Resurrection of the flesh, there could be the danger of a superficial and closed devotionalism, or a philanthropy that has little to do with true evangelization - the joyful proclamation of the life which does not die - consequently with little or no missionary and evangelizing spirit. To save others means to make them know and believe in the life which does not end, believe in He whom the Father sent so that we may have life and have it in abundance. The primary purpose of the Eucharist is to proclaim and make alive the Gospel of the Resurrection of the flesh, starting from now. If this Gospel is not offered to the people, the Eucharist either is of no interest or becomes magic or is closed in a sterile sentimental devotion... However, Evangelization must go beyond this and to this beyond it will spur with force the understood, believed, received and lived Eucharist as the seed of Eternal Life, of Immortality...
Therefore, I humbly ask that with reference to Eschatology:
1. Make it one or more of the final propositiones.
2. Propose this in the Message.
[00219-02.05] [IN183] [Original text: Italian]
- H. Em. Card. Julián HERRANZ, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (VATICAN CITY)
The Holy Father, in his touching meditation the first day of the Synod, commented on the 5 imperatives of St. Paul to the Corinthians. I would like to recall two in relation to the fundamental right of the faithful to the most Holy Eucharist, and one with regard to our relative duty as Pastors.
The first imperative was: Gaudete, because - the Pope reminded us - the Lord is near to each one of us. For every one of the words of Revelation are true: I knock at your door, listen to me, open the door to me. What joy for the soul to receive, as a supreme manifestation of this divine love, the invaluable gift of the Eucharist!
Certainly, a gift cannot be confused with a right. Humanity has no right before God to receive the Eucharist, exactly because this is an act of infinite generosity and mercy. But once God has given the sacraments to the Church for the good of his People, all the faithful enjoy (gaudere) the following right formulated by canon 213 of the code of Canon Law with the same words of the Constitution Lumen Gentium No. 37: Christs faithful have the right to be assisted by their Pastors from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacraments. and with regard specifically to the Holy Eucharist, canon 912 recites: Any baptized person who is not forbidden by law may and must be admitted to Holy Communion.
As can be seen, we are dealing here with a fundamental right, but not an absolute one, as some think. There are, in fact, personal requirements that limit that right. The necessity of a state of grace to receive Holy Communion (cf. 1 Cor 11:27; CIC, Can. 916), which the interested person must judge, also has some external manifestations that call on the Sacred Pastors. They are the cases, - recalled also in canon 915 and in Ecclesia de Eucharistia - of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm(No. 37), that impedes access to Eucharistic Communion. This norm regards vast diversity of irregular situations: all of which, however, are to be followed with loving patience and pastoral solicitude, in order to make them regular and avoid that any faithful distances themselves from the Church or even considers themselves excommunicated, by the sole fact of not being able to receive communion.
This consideration evokes the second imperative perfecti estote commented on by the Holy Father:sometimes, our soul appears like an apostolic net which nevertheless often does not work well, because it is torn by our own intentions; or like a musical instrument where unfortunately some chords are broken, and therefore the music of God which should sound from the depth of our soul cannot echo well (...) And so this imperative can also be an invitation to regularly examine ones conscience.....and also an invitation to the Sacrament of reconciliation, where God Himself remakes this instrument.
The third imperative was exhortamini invicem. The Holy Father has said with reference to our responsibility of pastoral government: Fraternal correction is a work of mercy. Perhaps we, dear brothers, should be more sensitive to the valid request of the faithful who express their hunger for the Eucharist. Many, in fact, lament hardly ever being able to find a confessor - even where priests are not lacking in the parish -; they point out liturgical abuses and desacralizing trivialization of the Eucharistic celebrations; they suffer because, against the canonical norms on public worship - the churches are always closed outside of the communitarian celebrations and they cannot stay in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and so on.
Since justice consists in giving each one that which they have a right to (unicuique suum tribuere), we ask our Lady - Speculum Iustitiae - to help us to guarantee our lay brothers and sisters the exercising of their rights: for the good of their souls, but also for the apostolic vigour of the entire People of God.
[00221-02.06] [IN185] [Original text: Italian] - H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph Anthony ZZIWA, Bishop of Kiyinda-Mityana (UGANDA)
I refer to Sunday Mass and Sunday as a Holiday of Obligation, a day of rest for the Christians.
Cf. Instrumentum Laboris Nos. 6 and 70.
About 80% of the population of Uganda are Christians, of whom about 42% are Catholics. The Muslims for about 10% of the population. The Constitution of Uganda recognises and guarantees religious freedom.
We are grateful to God for the lively and vibrant Church in Uganda. Many Catholics go to Church to celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday - Dies Domini. In almost parish church, there are two Masses celebrated every Sunday, and the churches are generally full of people. Some Christians even walk long distances of between 5 and ten kilometres to reach the venue (church) where Sunday Mass is celebrated. One can say with confidence that Catholics in Uganda observe the Sunday Obligation as far as liturgy is concerned.
However, that good practice is confronted by one challenge namely, working on Sunday. While Christians go to Church on Sunday morning, many of them return home after the Mass and work like they do on any other day of the week. Although the priests teach that Sunday is the Day of the Lord, the day of rest , today many lay Christians say: "I have fulfilled the obligation of going to Mass on Sunday, after which I have to work for my daily bread". Such people are mainly peasants who work in their plantations and the business community like shop keepers in trading centres (small towns).
These people are somehow inspired or attracted to work Sunday by another category of people whose practice of working on Sunday is generally accepted by society as normal. They are for example the taxi drivers, restaurant owners, fishermen, students (especially those who are in boarding schools and they do serious reading in libraries on Sundays).
Paradoxically, the rich people or middle class, some of whom do not even go to Church on Sunday are the ones who really rest on Sunday. They wake up late, they watch television for long hours, they go to the theatre or cinema, they drive out to visit friends, etc.. .
Given such life situation, there is pastoral need to revise the teaching about Sunday as Holiday of obligation, a day of rest for the Christians.
[00222-02.05] [IN186] [Original text: English]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Johannes Gerardus Maria van BURGSTEDEN, S.S.S., Titular Bishop of Tibili, Auxiliary of Haarlem (NETHERLANDS)
in this year, 2005, we live in a world where image culture predominates. On the one hand, this means that well cared for liturgies, with regard to esthetical canons, can arouse interest in people. On the other hand, we must realize that there is no mass affluence to the Sunday Eucharistic celebrations (in the Netherlands it is, on average, 10 per cent). The way in which the Eucharistic mystery is explained refers to a landscape of philosophical notions which is alien to modern man. It is for this reason that only with great difficulty, the contents - the doctrine - can be proposed to the attention of people. The practice of religious celebration frequently is not a source of inspiration for modern man. It seems to me that finding the balance between contents and experience, between theory and that which is lived, is one of the great challenges that we have to face.
In order to find this balance and to bring the Eucharistic celebration nearer to modern man, I think that at least the following three points are important:
1. First of all, Catechesis continues around the center and summit of our faith. Thus, catechesis has to be a Eucharistic catechesis. A Eucharistic catechesis is, by its very nature, a Christocentric catechesis. He is Himself the heart and the summit of our faith. In fact, we confess His death and His resurrection as the mysterium fidei. For this reason, a continuous Eucharistic catechesis has to be a Pascal catechesis, because in it Jesus Christ is recognized, as by the disciples of Emmaus, in the breaking of the bread, in the fractio panis.
2. As second point, the dignified celebration of the Eucharist deserves our attention. Here both celebrants and the faithful have a great responsibility. By a dignified celebration I mean to faithfully follow the rules and the rubrics. Together with this attitude, it is also necessary to affirm that real dignity resides, overall, in the interior disposition of both the faithful and the celebrants. I once read in the sacristy of an old church in the Netherlands, the following text: Celebrate this Holy Mass as if it was your first, unique and last one. This text made me think that it would not be bad if we put it also on the main entrance of the church.
3. As third and last point, I want to name the adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament. I have heard that, for sure in our zones, the Eucharistic worship is limited, in increasing measure, at the Eucharistic celebration. According to the faithful, active participation in a Eucharistic celebration is almost exclusively reduced to receiving the communion. Eucharistic fasting, the solemn exposure of the Most Holy Sacrament but also silent adoration in front of the tabernacle can help us a great deal to arouse in us the desire to unite ourselves with Christ. In this manner these forms contribute to make Eucharist become the sacramentum unitatis par excellence.
[00195-02.04] [IN164] [Original text: Italian]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Adalberto MARTÍNEZ FLORES, Bishop of San Lorenzo (PARAGUAY)
As fruit of celebrating and sharing the Eucharist, besides the bread and the wine, primitive Christian communities, would present their offerings to sustain the shortage of the most needy (Cf, 1Cor 16:1).
I come from a country, whose lands, in history, were watered by the blood of the Christian martyrs, who have made faith in the Lord and commitment to His Church. A model defender of justice and equality for the indigenous people has been the life and testimony of Saint Roque González de Santa Cruz, the first Paraguayan saint, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II, in 1988.
The witness of his burnt and sacrificed heart is still kept today,(in the Chapel of Martyrs), as an eloquent relic of mercy, of who is capable of giving his life for his most poor and excluded brothers. Certainly from such a heart, martyred, one of Eucharisticized-flesh, cannot but be produced fruits of life, of light, of conversions, paradigm and Way, that challenge us and refer us to our Lord and Saviour.
In the present day of our country, great and serious exclusions continue still due to social iniquities, the deficient access to health, the unjust distribution of goods and land, the devaluation of the dignity of human life, unemployment, corruption, and increasing poverty which especially punish women, young people and children who suffer the silent martyrdom of the slavery, injustices and afflictions. At the same time we observe the heroic efforts of committed Christian men and women in their communities in the cause of the most needy
The Masses celebrated in our communities, very well attended, deeply felt and joyful, are privileged spaces of fraternity, to collect and fill baskets with food, medicine, clothes and possessions in the offerings given to be later distributed to those in need. Around the altar crop up initiatives for solidarity to house abandoned children and to establish nursery schools and dining halls to feed them; initiatives for the promotion in the self-management, sustenance and development of families and their meager economies. The Eucharist is, then, the privileged Sacrament as a place and source of social solidarity.
On the other hand, looking at the wider picture, today more than ever as a Church we should intrepidly and with a greater insistence face up to the urgency for a worldwide conversion (metanoia) to grow in social solidarity and fight against the terrible and pressing whip of hunger in the world. Vatican II already affirmed: since there are so many people prostrate with hunger in the world, this Sacred Council urges all, both individuals and governments, to remember the aphorism of the Fathers, Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him. (G S 69).
Obedient to the command of Lord Jesus who ordered: Give them something to eat yourselves (Mk 6:37) we cannot but pray, exhort and work for a renewed Pentecost of Solidarity on the planet, with multiplied effusions of bread and medicine for the favour of populations seriously menaced by extinction, famine and illness. As fruit of the Synod I request the confrontation of this project with greater eagerness and dedication.
John Paul II in Mane Nobiscum Domine, tells us: The Eucharist is not merely an expression of communion in the Churchs life; it is also a project of solidarity for all of humanity...The Christian who takes part in the Eucharist learns to become a promoter of communion, peace, and solidarity in every situation.
The topic of the Instrumentum Laboris is: The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church. In the context of my brief reflection, one could also propose: The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life, Mission and Solidarity of the Church.
[00193-02.05] [IN167] [Original text: Spanish]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Albino MAMEDE CLETO, Bishop of Coimbra (PORTUGAL)
I believe that a word of respect and stimulus, at the same time, towards our priests and their collaborators who make so many sacrifices to guarantee the Sunday celebration to the People of God should come from this Synod.
In this spirit of caring pastors and helping brothers, meanwhile, we must be careful of the deviations which are increasing, at least in my country.
I present three tendencies, in themselves good, but where the Eucharist tends to deviate from what it is - liturgical and sacred celebration of a sacramental mystery - to become a mere religious service:
First: the main worry of parish priests in guaranteeing Mass that the faithful need, neglecting the quality of the celebration.
In a secularized society, having food is not enough, we also need to know how to prepare the table. More important than the placement of the host in the hand or on the tongue is to do this with the dignity transmitted by faith.
Second: in wanting to be accepted by our listeners, our priests deem the Eucharist as communion at the table of equality.
We must commit to a catechesis where communion is first of all with the immolated and offered Lamb.
Third: Sunday celebrations of Mass without priests have multiplied, presided by deacons or the laity. They are a blessing. But the ease with which this substitution of Mass with these celebrations is done, worries me.
At least, the order of the rites should be strongly different.
[00208-02.04] [IN172] [Original text: Italian]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Nicholas CHIA, Archbishop of Singapore, President of the Episcopal Conference (Singapore, SINGAPORE)
We, the Bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei consider the encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia", the World Congress on the Eucharist, the Apostolic letter "Mane Nobiscum Domine" and the present Synod as a time of grace for us to seriously ponder over the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church. For a long time the Mass and the Eucharist have been taken for granted.
In general in our dioceses, the participation of the faithful on Sundays and Days of Obligation ranges from 50% to 80% in urban areas while the percentage is much lower in rural areas.
The majority of Catholics have the basic knowledge of the Mass and the Eucharist. However, there is a need to deepen their understanding and appreciation.
THE MASS:
Many "attend" Mass out of obligation to avoid mortal sin rather than "participate" in the Mass.
THE EUCHARIST:
i) They have faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, showing their reverence and respect by genuflecting or bowing when they come into Church.
ii) Many receive Communion out of routine and lack interior devotion.
iii) Many Churches have Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament weekly. A few parishes have chapels of Perpetual Adoration.
iv) The Feast of Corpus Christi is usually celebrated with the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. In this year of the Eucharist many dioceses held Eucharistic Congresses.
We feel the need to focus on the following:
1) Priests must seriously act "in persona Christi" - reaching out not only to the eyes and ears of the faithful but touching their hearts, helping them to encounter Christ. They must look to be tranformed and not entertained!
2) The faithful must be brought to understand the meaning of communion with the Lord and with each other. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my Blood lives in Me and I in him." "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in their midst".
3) Blessing of non-Catholics, catechumens and children to be given when they come forward at Communion time as a sign of spiritual communion on their part. This action is also a sign of the care and concern we have for them.
4) The need to emphasize on the missionary dimension of the Eucharist as is well expressed by the two disciples of Emmaus "Ite, missa est".
[00209-02.05] [IN173] [Original text: English] - Rev. Father John CORRIVEAU, O.F.M. Cap., General Minister of the Franciscan Order of Capucine Friars Minor
Our age needs to rediscover awe. St Francis calls us back to awe - to surprise and amazement at how God is constantly taking the initiative in our regard. This is vital for those of us who live in a culture where nothing amazes us any more because everything is the product of human planning and organization. Humanity appears as the product of its own experimentations, leaving no room for surprise and novelty.
God's humility does surprise us. We are moved by his initiative towards us, touched in the depths of our being. "Although he was in the form of God, Jesus Christ did not cling to his equality with God" (Ph 2: 6) This kenosis in a certain sense continues in the Eucharist. Awe arises in our hearts when we allow this humble self-abasement of God in Eucharist to resonate in our lives.
"See, I am with you till the end of the world" (Mt. 28: 20). Francis puts together Christ's promise during his last appearance to His apostles with His Eucharistic presence in the Church. We are struck by the simplicity with which Francis looks at the Eucharistic mystery. St Francis constructs an impressive analogy between the descent of Jesus into the womb of the Virgin Mary and the descent onto the altar during Mass. It is the same event that continues to happen again. (cf Adm. 1)
It is important that the Christian community re-discover the profound link between the Eucharistic mystery and the circumstances of everyday life, starting from fraternal relationships and broadening out to embrace the whole of creation. Thus arises the circular movement inherent in the Christian life: the Eucharist will impel us to form fraternal relationships in the Church, in society and with the whole creation. Work for the promotion of a true brotherhood/sisterhood of peace among people and for the protection of creation will encourage us to recognize in the Eucharist the only adequate foundation for our life and action.
[00213-02.05] [IN177] [Original text: English]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Alfredo Víctor PETIT VERGEL, Titular Bishop of Buslacena, Auxiliary of San Cristóbal de La Habana (CUBA)
In Cuba, during the celebration of the Holy Year 2000, we held a Diocesan Eucharistic Congress in Havana, but of a practically national character. During it, there was permitted a street procession, with a coach in which H. Em. Cardinal Jaime Ortega carried the custody of the Most Holy Sacrament till the Cathedral. In the square a good number of believers had assembled for the Solemn Benediction. It was also held a Theological Symposium on the theme of Eucharist with the participation of, amongst others, H. Em. Cardinal Amigo Vallejo, Archbishop of Sevilla, Spain.
There was also celebrated a First Communion of 2000 children chosen from different parishes in an open-air Mass in the Port Avenue in front of the Seminary.
We are completing the Pastoral Global Plan for the period 2000-2005 and since last October the Eucharistic Year which combined with the Mission Year, was incorporated to this same plan.
We think that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the life of the Church and for this we do not abandon its essential importance in our Pastoral Global Plan which will start, with the help of God, next February and that will have as a base the Eucharist, without giving up the missionary impulse.
In fact, the faithful consulted at the level of communities chose nine priority themes which are: Spirituality, Moral, Mission, Pastoral Liturgy, Social Liturgy, Formation, Laity, Family and Youth. This constitutes the base of the Pastoral Global Plan of the period 2006-2011.
On the other hand, there exists among us for more than a century the Night Adoration with the same characteristics mentioned before by H. Exc. Msg. Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago, President of the Mexican Episcopal Conference.
In spite of the lack of priests, we appreciate the Eucharist a lot and it is celebrated with great respect for the liturgical precepts.
However, in front of the difficulty and practically the impossibility of constructing new temples we have what is called prayer homes or mission homes in the suburb and in the small villages and country homes where each week, or with the frequency possible, a small group of faithful, not more than 40, are gathered under the guidance of a committed lay person, a religious or a deacon person. There comes the priest and the Holy Mass is celebrated in these places with a great devotion and respect for the liturgical precepts and having already celebrated the corresponding confession sacrament for those who, with the due dispositions, desire to participate in the Eucharistic Bread.
[00214-02.03] [IN178] [Original text: Spanish]
- H.E. Most. Rev. Karl-Heinz WIESEMANN, Titular Bishop of Macriana minore, Auxiliary of Paderborn (GERMANY)
In my intervention, I refer, in particular, to the third chapter of the Instrumentum Laboris on the celebration of the Eucharist and the adoration, and I wish to reflect on the nature of the mystery of the Eucharist.
In spite of secularism, our times are pervaded by deep mystical nostalgia/yearning. However, are we capable of celebrating the Eucharist in such a way that men and women who are seeking are drawn by the mystery of the Eucharist?
The highest form of the presence of the Lord, which we define in the most adequate way by the concepts of real presence and transubstantiation, is revealed for St. Thomas, in the famous hymn Adoro te devote, latens deitas,in the same act, as the form of the sacramental concealing. By this one is not referring to modern scepticism, but to the exact opposite: the opening up of a nuptial dialectics of seeking to find and of finding to seek which, whenever and every time one conceals and removes, this arouses thirst for the supreme savouring of the visio beata as the eternal end of this seeking and finding, concealing and revealing, concealing and giving oneself. This mystic dimension must find its expression also in our way of talking about the Eucharist and in its celebration. Only in this way can the Eucharist show itself to be efficacious as the only true answer to mystical nostalgia of our times, because it introduces man in the deep love relationship with Christ and with this in the mystery of the One and Triune God and makes him participate in it. Hence, we must highlight with gestures and liturgical forms which also express what is concealed, is only intuitable in silence and which is removed from our possibilities.
[00218-02.07] [IN182] [Original text: German] - H.E. Most. Rev. Cornelius Kipng'eno ARAP KORIR, Bishop of Eldoret, President of the Episcopal Conference (KENYA)
On Sunday we gather together to celebrate the Eucharist and to be renewed in our discipleship. By celebrating the Paschal Mystery of Christ, our life is transformed and we are renewed and strengthened in our calling to spread the Kingdom of God. Our gathering together on Sunday is a very important dimension of our faith and it reveals our sense of belonging to the Trinity and to the Church, as well as our commitment to break down the many barriers that are built around us because of social, ethnic or financial status. Through our sharing in the Paschal mystery, we are renewed in our call to be witnesses of the Risen Lord by breaking down the barriers that divide us. By striving to overcome tribalism and hatred, we grow in our awareness that all of us are members of the same family, children of the same Father.
The liturgical proclamation of the Word of God is first of all a dialogue between God and his people, a dialogue in which the wonders of salvation are proclaimed and the demands of the covenant are continually restated. To the God who takes the initiative to speak to us and to enter into a dialogue of love, we respond by listening and welcoming the message of life into our hearts. The dialogue of love that God initiates with us in the celebration continues in our daily life and leads us back again to the celebration, as our desire to be nourished at the Table of the Word and the Eucharist grows stronger and stronger.
Our Christians look forward to the Sunday celebration of the Mass. The sense of feast, celebration, and joy of our Eucharistic assemblies needs to be shared with the whole Church. It is the joy of being together as the Family of God.
"Africans have a profound religious sense, a sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the Creator and of a spiritual world" (Ecclesia in Africa, 42). The Sunday Eucharistic celebration is meant to make use of this inherent richness in order to enable Christian communities to participate fully and actively in the Paschal mystery.
[00220-02.05] [IN184] [Original text: English]
Then, free interventions followed in the presence of the Holy Father.
This General Congregation ended at 7:00 p.m. with the prayer Angelus Domini. 242 Fathers were present. ♦ SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
Accredited journalists are informed that on Thursday 13 October 2005, at 12:45 p.m., in the John Paul II Conference Hall of the Holy See Press Office, the Second Press Conference will be held on the works of the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Relatio post disceptationem).
The following will intervene:
● H.Em. Card. Francis Arinze
Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
President-Delegate
● H. Em. Card. Juan Sandoval Íñiguez
Archbishop of Guadalajara (Mexico)
President-Delegate
● H. Em Card. Telesphore Placidus Toppo
Archbishop of Ranchi (India)
President-Delegate
● H.Exc. Msg. John Patrick Foley
Titular Archbishop of Neapolis of Proconsolari
President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
President of the Information Commission
● H.Exc. Msg. Sofron Stefan Mudry, O.S.B.M.
Bishop Emeritus of Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine)
Vice-President of the Information Commission |
