Pope Benedict and the Eucharist

While Pope Benedict XVI is surely assessing the good pastoral work carried out by the Synodal Bishops gathered in Rome (October 2-23) on the Holy Eucharist, it is appropriate to point out that since the evening of April 19, 2005, when he was elected Supreme Pastor of the Church, he has been harping on the fundamental and indispensable importance of the Eucharist in the Church.

In fact, his very first message, in Latin, to the Cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel on April 20, the day after the conclave ended, Pope Benedict said: "This year the solemnity of the feast of Corpus Domini has to be celebrated in a very special manner. In mid-August the Holy Eucharist will be solemnly celebrated during the World Youth Day in Cologne, and later on in October the Synodal Bishops (in Rome) will have as the theme for the Synod "The Eucharist source and peak of life and of the Church's mission".

"For this reason we request that everyone in the coming months will intensify their piety towards Jesus in the Eucharist and to manifest a strong and visible faith in the real presence of the Lord specially by the solemnity and the correctness of all celebrations".

Pope Benedict is very clearly stressing that the Holy Eucharist is indispensable in the journey towards real ecumenism. Addressing the faithful gathered in Bari for the Eucharistic Congress in June 2005, the Holy Father, speaking about receiving Christ in unity in the Eucharist, asked Catholics: "How can we communicate with the Lord if we don't communicate among opurselves?"

Pope Benedict has been regularly emphasising that the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity, and that Christ encountered in the Eucharist "is the one and same Christ present in the Eucharistic bread all over the world. This means we can encounter Him only together with everyone else. We can only receive Him in unity".

So very frequently the Holy Father has emphasised that it is an excellent practice just to be in His presence, and allow Him to reveal Himself as we kneel or sit, quietly and alone. This practice will lead us to experience His presence in a very vivid and real way.

In total conformity with other Popes, Benedict XVI is stressing repeatedly that the Church is nourished and sustained principally by the word of God, by the Eucharist and by prayer. He always makes it clear to the faithful that Eucharist does not mean only the celebration of Mass, but also our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Indeed. a Catholic church is a place where the people of God gather, but it is also a place where Christ is truly and sacramentally present. It is character. Perhaps what we need in the Church today is to recapture our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.