This morning's General Audience began at 9:35am in Saint Peter's Square, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
During his speech, the Pope began a new cycle of catechesis on the Holy Mass.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, we begin a new series of catecheses, which will focus our attention on the heart of the Church, that is to say the Eucharist. It is essential for us Christians to have a good understanding of the significance of the Holy Mass, in order to experience our relationship with God more fully.
We cannot forget the great number of Christians who, throughout the world, over the past two thousand years, have defended the Eucharist even to the point of death; and those, even today, who risk their lives in order to participate in Sunday Mass. In the year 304, during the persecution of Diocletian, a group of Christians from North Africa were surprised while they were celebrating a Mass in one of their homes; they were arrested. During the ensuing interrogation, the Roman proconsul asked them why they were doing that, knowing that the celebration of the Mass was absolutely forbidden, and they replied: Without Sunday, we cannot live, as if to say: if e cannot celebrate the Eucharist, we cannot live, our Christian life would die.
In fact, Jesus says to his disciples: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink of his blood, you have no life within you. Whoever eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day (Jn 6:53-54).
Those Christians in North Africa were killed because they were celebrating the Eucharist. They left a testimony that it is possible to renounce earthly life for the Eucharist, because the Eucharist gives us eternal life by making us all participants in the victory of Christ over death. A witness that challenges all of us and calls us to answer about what it means for each one of us to participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass and to be present at the Lord's Table. Are we are all looking for the font of living and healing water that makes our lives a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and makes us one body in Christ? This is the deepest sense of the holy Eucharist, which means thanksgiving: thanksgiving to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who involves us and transforms us into his communion of love.
In future catecheses, I want to respond to some important questions about the Eucharist and about the Mass, in order to re-discover, or to discover how the love of God shines through this mystery.
The Second Vatican council was strongly driven by a desire to lead Christians to understand the greatness of the faith and the beauty of an encounter with Christ. For this reason, it was necessary to implement - with the help of the Holy Spirit - an adequate renewal of the Liturgy, so that the Church could continually live and renew herself by means of the Liturgy.
A central theme which the Council Fathers pointed out was the liturgical formation of the faithful, indispensable in order for true renewal to take place. This is also a reason for this cycle of catechesis that is beginning today: to grow in the knowledge of the great gift that God has given us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is a marvellous event in which Jesus Christ, our life, is made present to us. Participation in the Mass is to experience once again the passion and redemptive death of the Lord. It is a theophany: the Lord is made present on the altar in order to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world (Pope Francis, Homily at Mass, Casa Santa Marta, 10 February 2014). The Lord is there with us, present. Many times, we go there, we see things happening, we chat among ourselves while the priest is celebrating the Eucharist ... and we do not celebrate along with Him. But the Lord is there! If today, the President of the Republic or some other very important person was coming, I am sure that everyone would want to get close to him, to see him and to greet him. Think about it: wen you go to Mass, the Lord is there! And you are distracted. He is the Lord! We should think about this. But Father, Mass is boring. - What are we saying, that the Lord is boring? - No, no, not the Mass, the priest - Ah, so we have to convert the priests, but the Lord is present! Do you understand? Don't forget it. Participating in the Mass is another opportunity to experience the passion and the redemptive death of the Lord.
Let's try to ask a few simple questions. For example, why do we make the sign of the cross and the penitential act at the beginning of the Mass? And here, I want to add something else in parentheses. Have you ever seen how children make the sign of the cross? You can't be sure what they're doing - whether it's the sign of the cross or some kind of art that they're drawing. They do like this (making a sign that is confusing). We need to teach our children how to make the sign of the cross well. This is how we begin the Mass, how we begin our lives, how we begin our day. This means that we are redeemed by the Lord's cross. Watch children and teach them to make the sign of the cross well. And those readings during Mass, why are they there? Why do we read three readings every Sunday and on other days only two? Why are they there, what do the readings during the Mass mean? Why do we read them and what do they mean? Or, why is it that at a certain point, the priest who is presiding at the celebration says: Lift up your hearts? He doesn't say: Lift up your telephones or take a picture! No, that would be a terrible thing! I have to tell you that it makes me very sad when I celebrate here in the Square or in the Basilica and I see many telephones raised up high, not only by the faithful, but sometimes by priests and also by bishops. Please! The Mass is not a spectacle: go out to encounter the passion and the resurrection of the Lord. This is the reason why the priest says: Lift up your hearts. What does this mean? Remember: no telephones.
It is very important for us to return to the essentials, to rediscover what is essential, through our experience of things we can touch and see in the celebration of the Sacraments. The question asked by the apostle Thomas (cf Jn 20:25) to see and to touch the marks left by the nails in Jesus' hands and feet, is the desire to be able in some way to touch God in order to believe in him. What Saint Thomas asks of the Lord is what we all need: to see him, to touch him in order to recognize him. The Sacraments respond to this human need. The Sacraments, and the celebration of the Eucharist in a particular way, are signs of the love of God, the preferred way for us to encounter Him.
Through these catecheses, which we are beginning today, I would like to rediscover with you the beauty that is hidden in the celebration of the Eucharist, a beauty that, once awakened, can give us the full sense of the life that is within each one of us. Our Lady will accompany us on this new path. Thank you.
As is the established custom, the Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and His Holiness offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from New Zealand, the Philippines, Korea, Canada and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
During his speech, the Pope began a new cycle of catechesis on the Holy Mass.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, we begin a new series of catecheses, which will focus our attention on the heart of the Church, that is to say the Eucharist. It is essential for us Christians to have a good understanding of the significance of the Holy Mass, in order to experience our relationship with God more fully.
We cannot forget the great number of Christians who, throughout the world, over the past two thousand years, have defended the Eucharist even to the point of death; and those, even today, who risk their lives in order to participate in Sunday Mass. In the year 304, during the persecution of Diocletian, a group of Christians from North Africa were surprised while they were celebrating a Mass in one of their homes; they were arrested. During the ensuing interrogation, the Roman proconsul asked them why they were doing that, knowing that the celebration of the Mass was absolutely forbidden, and they replied: Without Sunday, we cannot live, as if to say: if e cannot celebrate the Eucharist, we cannot live, our Christian life would die.
In fact, Jesus says to his disciples: If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink of his blood, you have no life within you. Whoever eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day (Jn 6:53-54).
Those Christians in North Africa were killed because they were celebrating the Eucharist. They left a testimony that it is possible to renounce earthly life for the Eucharist, because the Eucharist gives us eternal life by making us all participants in the victory of Christ over death. A witness that challenges all of us and calls us to answer about what it means for each one of us to participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass and to be present at the Lord's Table. Are we are all looking for the font of living and healing water that makes our lives a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and makes us one body in Christ? This is the deepest sense of the holy Eucharist, which means thanksgiving: thanksgiving to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who involves us and transforms us into his communion of love.
In future catecheses, I want to respond to some important questions about the Eucharist and about the Mass, in order to re-discover, or to discover how the love of God shines through this mystery.
The Second Vatican council was strongly driven by a desire to lead Christians to understand the greatness of the faith and the beauty of an encounter with Christ. For this reason, it was necessary to implement - with the help of the Holy Spirit - an adequate renewal of the Liturgy, so that the Church could continually live and renew herself by means of the Liturgy.
A central theme which the Council Fathers pointed out was the liturgical formation of the faithful, indispensable in order for true renewal to take place. This is also a reason for this cycle of catechesis that is beginning today: to grow in the knowledge of the great gift that God has given us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is a marvellous event in which Jesus Christ, our life, is made present to us. Participation in the Mass is to experience once again the passion and redemptive death of the Lord. It is a theophany: the Lord is made present on the altar in order to be offered to the Father for the salvation of the world (Pope Francis, Homily at Mass, Casa Santa Marta, 10 February 2014). The Lord is there with us, present. Many times, we go there, we see things happening, we chat among ourselves while the priest is celebrating the Eucharist ... and we do not celebrate along with Him. But the Lord is there! If today, the President of the Republic or some other very important person was coming, I am sure that everyone would want to get close to him, to see him and to greet him. Think about it: wen you go to Mass, the Lord is there! And you are distracted. He is the Lord! We should think about this. But Father, Mass is boring. - What are we saying, that the Lord is boring? - No, no, not the Mass, the priest - Ah, so we have to convert the priests, but the Lord is present! Do you understand? Don't forget it. Participating in the Mass is another opportunity to experience the passion and the redemptive death of the Lord.
Let's try to ask a few simple questions. For example, why do we make the sign of the cross and the penitential act at the beginning of the Mass? And here, I want to add something else in parentheses. Have you ever seen how children make the sign of the cross? You can't be sure what they're doing - whether it's the sign of the cross or some kind of art that they're drawing. They do like this (making a sign that is confusing). We need to teach our children how to make the sign of the cross well. This is how we begin the Mass, how we begin our lives, how we begin our day. This means that we are redeemed by the Lord's cross. Watch children and teach them to make the sign of the cross well. And those readings during Mass, why are they there? Why do we read three readings every Sunday and on other days only two? Why are they there, what do the readings during the Mass mean? Why do we read them and what do they mean? Or, why is it that at a certain point, the priest who is presiding at the celebration says: Lift up your hearts? He doesn't say: Lift up your telephones or take a picture! No, that would be a terrible thing! I have to tell you that it makes me very sad when I celebrate here in the Square or in the Basilica and I see many telephones raised up high, not only by the faithful, but sometimes by priests and also by bishops. Please! The Mass is not a spectacle: go out to encounter the passion and the resurrection of the Lord. This is the reason why the priest says: Lift up your hearts. What does this mean? Remember: no telephones.
It is very important for us to return to the essentials, to rediscover what is essential, through our experience of things we can touch and see in the celebration of the Sacraments. The question asked by the apostle Thomas (cf Jn 20:25) to see and to touch the marks left by the nails in Jesus' hands and feet, is the desire to be able in some way to touch God in order to believe in him. What Saint Thomas asks of the Lord is what we all need: to see him, to touch him in order to recognize him. The Sacraments respond to this human need. The Sacraments, and the celebration of the Eucharist in a particular way, are signs of the love of God, the preferred way for us to encounter Him.
Through these catecheses, which we are beginning today, I would like to rediscover with you the beauty that is hidden in the celebration of the Eucharist, a beauty that, once awakened, can give us the full sense of the life that is within each one of us. Our Lady will accompany us on this new path. Thank you.
As is the established custom, the Holy Father's catechesis was then summarized in various languages and His Holiness offered greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from New Zealand, the Philippines, Korea, Canada and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment