| 20 - 12.10.2005 SUMMARY
♦ FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 - MORNING)
♦ SIXTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 - AFTERNOON)
♦ NOTICES
♦ FIFTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 - MORNING)
This morning, the following Synodal Fathers intervened in the Fifteenth General Congregation:
- H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph ZEN ZE-KIUN, S.D.B., Bishop of Hong Kong (Xianggang) (CHINA)
- H.E. Most. Rev. Estanislao Esteban KARLIC, Archbishop Emeritus of Paraná (ARGENTINA)
Below we give the summaries of the two interventions, which arrived after the closure of the publishing of Bulletin No. 19 of this morning:
- H.E. Most. Rev. Joseph ZEN ZE-KIUN, S.D.B., Bishop of Hong Kong (Xianggang) (CHINA)
The Church in China apparently divided into two, an official one recognized by the government and a clandestine one, which refuses to be independent from Rome, is in reality a Church alone, because everybody wants to be united with the Pope.
After long years of forced separation, the large majority of the bishops of the official Church have been legalized by the magnanimity of the Holy Father.
Especially in recent years it appears more and more clear that the bishops ordained without the approval of the Roman Pontiff are neither accepted by the clergy nor by the faithful.
One hopes that before this sensus Ecclesiae, the government can see the convenience of the situation, even if the conservatory elements inside the official Church cause resistance for obvious reasons of interest.
The invitation by the Holy Father to four bishops to attend the Synod was a good opportunity, but it seems to have been wasted.
The Eucharist well celebrated will certainly accelerate the coming of true religious freedom for the Chinese people.
[00309-02.04] [IN231] [Original text: Italian] - H.E. Most. Rev. Estanislao Esteban KARLIC, Archbishop Emeritus of Paraná (ARGENTINA)
1.- The Eucharist, sacrament of the Easter of Christ.
The Echarist makes us concorporeal, consanguine and contemporary with the Lord. The Lord instituted in the Eucharist a mysterious contemporaneity between His death and Hisresurrection and the passing (by)of the centuries. Only faith can know this admirable tarnsparency of time and space to the power of love and the glory of Christ, by means of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In the Today of the Eucharistic liturgy, the one redeeming Easter becomes a contemporay celebration.
2.- The Eucharist and the spirituality of the Martyr.
The Eucharist, through what is the Sacrament of Easter, makes us essentially paschal and participants in the martyrial vocation (of a martyr/torture/torment). It give us the grace to imitate the sacrificial offering of Christ in each/every moment of existence, loving as Christ loved on the cross.
3.- The Eucharist, source and summit of the Mission.
The Eucharist is, in itself, the most effective missionary action which the ecclesial community can carry out in the history of the world because it contains the Saviour in His Redeeming Easter. From the Eucharist, the Church should begin to proclaim with immense joy the Gospel of the saving love of God.
Its addressee is the whole world, every one in it and its culture, to assume, to purify of the error of sin, and to put everything on the altar of the Cross of the Lord.
[00308-02.02] [IN228] [Original text: Spanish]
♦ SIXTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION (WEDNESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2005 - AFTERNOON)
● REPORT AFTER THE DISCUSSION
● AUDITION OF THE AUDITORS II
At 4:30 p.m. today, Wednesday 12 October 2005, with the prayer Adsumus, took place the Sixteenth General Congregation, for the Report After the Discussion, for the Audition of the Auditors II, the Second Auditon of the Auditors and for the continuation of the Synodal Fathers in the Hall on the Synodal topic: The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.
President Delegate on duty H.Em.. Card. Telesphore Placidus TOPPO, Archbishop of Ranchi (India).
This General Congregation ended at 7:00 p.m. with the prayer Angelus Domini. There were present 239 Fathers. ● REPORT AFTER THE DISCUSSION
The Relator General in this Sixteenth General Congregation, H.Em. Card. Angelo SCOLA, Patriarch of Venice (Italy), read the Report After the Discussion in Latin. In the second report, at the conclusion of the general discussion on the Synodal topic in the Hall, the Relator General summarised the various interventions that took place in these days of the General Congregation and offered some lines of guidance to facilitate the work of the Working Groups.
We publish below a presentation in English of the Report after the discussion (complete original latin text in the plurilingual edition and full italian translation in the italian edition).
Presentation
The Report after the discussions,, by H. Em. Cardinal Angelo Scola, Relator General, begins recalling the fact that John Paul II wished to dedicate this XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to the theme The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church, and to the meditation with which Pope Benedict XVI opened the I General Congregation.. Upon the invitation of the Supreme Pastor of the Church, to have, according to the Pauline imperative, the same sentiments as Christ, he answered - in the Introduction of the Report, we can read - a kaleidoscope of interventions, suggestions, exchanges in a climate characterized by deep collegial affection, from the testimonial dimension present in so many interventions and by the great freedom and frankness with which each of the present expressed himself.
Cardinal Angelo Scola, underlining the nature of the Report after the discussions, therefore the author of this is the whole Assembly and not the Relator, states that he did not write a synthesis, rather collage of the interventions, due to the vastness of the themes dealt with and the sensitivities in play. The introduction concludes showing the basic orientation that emerged, in general, from the interventions: overcoming any dualism between doctrine and pastoral, between theology and liturgy.
The Report is articulated in two parts: the First Part, To Educate the People of God in faith to the Eucharist, which is divided into five chapters. In Chapter I, the Relator affirms that many interventions highlighted the objective difficulties that the Christian people today encounter in believing and celebrating the Eucharist, and the serious responsibility of the pastors in order for evangelization and new evangelization emerged. By instituting the Eucharist, the Relator affirms, Jesus gave life to a radical novelty: He achieved in Himself the new and eternal Covenant, and this novelty asks to be welcomed and safeguarded by the Church as a gift that is extremely precious and cannot be substituted. In Chapter II, the main traits of the essential contents of this great mystery are stated, which emerged from the need to educate the believers in an integral Eucharistic faith. In Chapter III, the great relevance that was given, in the Report, to the bond between the Eucharist and the Seven-Day Sacrament. Chapter IV deals with the Eucharist and the priestly people, the faithful who, in gathering together, rediscover their own sense of belonging to the Church, and Dies Domini is mentioned, Bishops and priests, permanent deacons and extraordinary ministers of Communion, parishes and small communities, family, consecrated life, youth. Finally, Chapter V puts together the theme of the Eucharist and mission: to be missionary the Church must also be deeply Eucharistic.
The Second Part, Eucharistic Action, has four chapters. In Chapter I, Cardinal A. Scola notes that many Fathers recalled with gratitude the beneficial influence of liturgical reform achieved by Vatican Council II on the life of the Church, with a reminder about the riches in the Roman Missal, together with the urgency for greater attention to the ars celebrandi (Chap. III) the actuosa participatio depends on this (Chap. IV), after having dealt, in Chapter II, with the structure of liturgical celebration.
In the Conclusion, which precedes the 17 Questions for the Working Groups (Circuli Minori) which closes the Relatio, Cardinal A. Scola asserts that the work that now awaits all the Synodal Fathers is the most delicate part, the part from which the Propositions will emerge, which we will offer to the discernment of the charism of the Successor of Peter. Once again, this is a task that we will undertake in all freedom and parresia because we intend to do this in all humility. In fact, we know that the Eucharist, inasmuch as being a gift, is intrinsically connected to the witness that, as we have been reminded, can even reach martyrdom. However, the martyrein is in itself a gift that, once more, requires humility. We are reminded of this in the beautiful translation of the preface of the martyrs:: Father, who reveals in the weak Your power and give the vulnerable the strength of martyrdom.
[00304-02.03] [NNNNN] [Original text: Italian]
● AUDITION OF THE AUDITORS II
After the reading of the Report after the discussion, in this Sixteenth General Congregation, the followingAuditors intervened:
- Sr. Maria Regina CESARATO, Superior General of the Pius Disciples of the Divine Master (ITALY)
- Ms. Bruna TOMASI, Member of the Executive Board of the Focolari Movement (ITALY)
- Mr. Leonardo CASCO, President of the "Alianza para la Familia" (HONDURAS)
- Ms. Martha Lorena ALVARADO de CASCO, President of the "Comité por la Vida" (HONDURAS)
- Mr. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
- Most Rev. Peter John ELLIOTT, Director of the John Paul II Institute for Matrimony and the Family in Melbourne. Member of the International Council for Catechesis (AUSTRALIA)
- Sr. Yvonne COLY, Former of the "Mater Christi" Center of Bobo-Dioulasso (SENEGAL)
- Mr. Luis Fernando FIGARI, Founder of Sodalitium Vitae Christianae (PERU)
- Rev. Athanasius SCHNEIDER. O.R.S., Spiritual Father and Director of Studies of the Major Seminary of Karaganda. Secretary of the Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Conference (KAZAKHSTAN)
- Br. Marc HAYET, General Director of the Little Brothers of Jesus (FRANCE)
- Sr. Rita BURLEY, A.C.I., Superior General of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (GREAT BRITAIN)
- Rev. Ignacio GRAMSCH LABRA, Parish Vicar of San Luis Beltrán of Pudahuel, Santiago de Chile. Archdiocesan Assessor of the Pastoral Care of Acolytes (CHILE)
- Mr. Andrea RICCARDI, Founder of the Sant'Egidio Community (ITALY)
- Sr. Hermenegild MAKORO, C.P.S., of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Precious Blood; Pastoral Animation of Christian Communities (REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA)
- Mr. Zbigniew NOSOWSKI, Director of the Catholic monthly "Więź", Warsaw; Member of the National Council for the Laity in Poland (POLAND)
- Ms. Marie-Hélène MATHIEU, International Coordinator of the Movement "Foi et Lumière" (FRANCE)
- Mr. Alexei V. JUDIN, Professor of History of the Church and of Inter-confessional Dialogue in the Russian Federation, Russian State University for the Humanities, St. Thomas College (Moscow) (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
- Mr. Francisco José GÓMEZ ARGÜELLO WIRTZ, Co-Founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way (SPAIN)
- Sr. Margaret WONG, F.D.C.C., of the Congregation of the Cannossian Daughters of Charity; Promoter of the Centers of Eucharistic Adoration (Hong Kong)
Below are the summaries of the interventions of the Auditors:
- Sr. Maria Regina CESARATO, Superior General of the Pius Disciples of the Divine Master (ITALY)
I heartily thank for having received the gift of participating in this Synodal Assembly which offers the opportunity to apostolically vibrate with the pilgrim Church all over the world and to share the sorrows and hopes.
I belong to the Congregation of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, one of the 10 Institutions which form the Pauline Family, founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione. The theme of the Synod, made clear in the Instrumentum Laboris, confirms us in our ecclesial identity. In addition, our apostolic experience especially in the area of liturgical pastoral care and of art at the service of the Liturgy, highlights the need to continue to serve the people of God offering a contribution for its formation because it reaches a full and fruitful participation in the divine mysteries and because it can prey in beauty. As a result, this will have gradual formation of the culture of the Eucharist mentioned In No.78 of the Instrumentum Laboris, and coincides with the culture of life. This formative need for a liturgy which transforms human existence and makes it reach its full accomplishment, we can also see in the service to priests, in particular when they are ill or in particular difficulty in their ministry. Then, we can experience, as consecrated women, the importance that in the Church the Marian principle is taken into account and valued, whereby Mary is the Eucharistic woman next to the Petrine principle.
Blessed Giacomo Alberione, who perhaps is better known as the Apostle of social communication, was a man of God deeply rooted in the Eucharistic Mystery: celebrated, adored, experienced and continuous source of apostolic creativity, for the good of the Church. The determining Eucharistic experience goes back to the night passing between two centuries, from 1800 to 1900, when in the extended adoration, after the midnight Holy Mass Giacomo Alberione, then a 16 year old seminarian felt he was enlightened by the Lord on the situation of mankind and strongly perceived the urgency to place his life at the service of the Gospel, valuing the most famous and efficacious means. He understood more and more that this could not bring fruit, according to God, if he had not had an intense life of prayer as a basis. Hence, our Congregation is like a permanent remembrance that the Eucharist is the source and the summit of the whole life of the Church and therefore of the apostolate which is carried out in the Pauline Family.
In our daily life which attempts to unite contemplation with apostolic commitment, the source of everything is the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist. This is extended in perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist on shift, day and night, and is experienced as apostolic prayer in addition to being a mystagogical experience. We live this mystery of praise and of intercession as a form of solidarity which unites us to the various situations of the Church and of mankind. In this spirit, as is done also in other churches in the world, from 2 December 1981, we ensure on a daily basis our presence for Adoration of the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Vatican Basilica, according to the intentions of the Holy Father who presides with love all the churches.
[00245-02.10] [AU007] [Original text: Italian]
- Ms. Bruna TOMASI, Member of the Executive Board of the Focolari Movement (ITALY)
From the beginning of the Movement, God made us concentrate on Jesus will: May they all be one (Jn 17:21). It seemed to us from that moment that this was our Magna Charta.
And we understood right away that unity is absolutely linked to the Eucharist: Jesus before asking the Father for unity among His own, instituted the Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity!
It is for this reason that we immediately felt urged to approach the Eucharist every day, certain that it was the Holy Spirit moving us to this.
And it is for this reason that the active participation in the Eucharistic celebration is an integral whole in the Movements spirituality.
The Holy Mass is the most important moment of the day of the Focolari movement. And at this moment we prepare ourselves, seeking that among us, and the brothers and sisters that God from time to time puts beside us, there be only charity: that there be no shadows in our relationship, that nothing obscures the divine light of Eucharist. Besides, does the Gospel not say: So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering? (Mt. 5:23-24).
It was clear to us that among us we needed that new heart, which is the fruit of the Eucharist, but also the inescapable condition for Eucharist to bear its fruits.
The first of these is the transformation in Christ.
And having Christ in Eucharist, we have experienced, and continue to experience, that we can realize in an ever fuller way that unity with our brothers and sisters, which, on the other hand, placed at the base of our own life, permitted us to free within ourselves all the divine force of Eucharist.
And here we understood something. The Risen Christ is in the womb of the Father: the Church, His body through the Eucharist, is also, in some way from down here, in the womb of the Father.
Then, our life appeared to us as the journey towards the achievement of a reality that has been already given to us and in which we had to strive to remain. There, the Eucharist guided us. There, the Eucharist protected us.
In this short time conceded to me I would like to highlight a particular reality.
The human being, in Christ, is guided in the wholeness of soul and body, to the womb of the Father. And it is there that the whole created reality waits to be lead, as St. Paul says (Rm 8:22).
We asked ourselves then (and continue to ask until now): Can we not think that our bodies, nourished for so long by the Eucharist, once buried in death in the womb of the earth, could be a germ of transformation of the universe? To be, ourselves, Eucharist for the earth? The earth consumes us just as we consume the Eucharist; but to be changed in us, if I could say so, as we are changed in Christ.
Receiving our bodies nourished by Eucharist, can we think that the earth is in this way prepared for that transformation to which God calls it?
Eucharist, transformation of death into life, is life for the entire universe. If this is true, so much more can we say - and we experience it - that the Eucharist reveals itself to be the instrument par excellence (I take the liberty to use the word) that can operate the full Christification of all the activities of man.
[00246-02.04] [AU008] [Original text: Italian]
- Mr. Leonardo CASCO, President of the "Alianza para la Familia" (HONDURAS)
It is completely valid that, in the interventions of the Holy Fathers that I have listened to during these days with respect to the various Nos. of the Instrumentum Laboris , there should have been mostly reference to the activities and participation of the Priest in the liturgy and in Eucharistic celebration. But my opinion is that there should made equal emphasis on the fact that the lay faithful of the beginning at the XXI century is not aware of having been raised to the incomparable dignity of the Son of God and that of belonging to that holy people that is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, ignoring therefore, in the majority of cases, their unique and irreplaceable vocation to sainthood, all of which incapacitates Him, amongst other aspects, from giving a true Christian witness in the various fields of his existence in the world, to maintain a unit of life in the family, work, social and political environments, and to perceive the live, real and personal presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
On the basis of the above and with the due respect, I wish to mention the following, namely:
1. Given that reality tells us than an enormous contingent of Catholics who live in the world today do not perfectly know the doctrinal principles of faith that they profess, living what could be called a light Catholicism (to use a fashionable word), it might then appear indispensable and ineluctable to encounter 40 years after the conclusion of the 2nd Vatican Council, a new catechetical formulation within and without the Eucharist, which serves to assert to the lay faithful the basic fundamentals of our religion, its dogmas of faith, its moral theology, etc., so that every faithful Catholic may encounter justification of the sense of living a coherently Christian life; so that a formula that gives back to the lay faithful a basic doctrinal ethical and moral formation, as well as the awareness of the importance of belonging to the unique Church of Christ and the pride of being Catholic.
2. On this line I consider it equally necessary that the Bishops and Priests should not have any objection to joyfully and safely proposing to the lay faithful a life of demanding and robust faith, which has been that of always and for everybody in the history of our Church. I refer not only to insisting on the attendance at Sunday Mass, but also in recommending daily practices of piety which go from the offering of works in the morning to the prayer of the Angelus and the Holy Rosary, to, why not, the daily mass whenever possible. On the basis of my personal experience, I can point out that when these practices of piety are explained and proposed permanently, without respite and without fatigue, the fruits are harvested almost immediately, leading the lay faithful to live in an atmosphere of faith which improves them as much in their personal life as in the supernatural. In this way, the baptized person will be able to be better prepared to give true Christian witnessing in todays secularized and overwhelming world.
In summary, my intervention is expressed in concrete terms in seeking that there should be injected with renewed enthusiasm in todays lay faithful, the demanding spirit of the early Christians, that is to say, the resort to prayer and to mortification, the daily practices of some basic rules of piety and the duty and right that all us the faithful have to the apostolate.
[00248-02.05] [AU010] [Original text: Spanish]
- Ms. Martha Lorena ALVARADO de CASCO, President of the "Comité por la Vida" (HONDURAS)
As a wife, mother, sister, daughter and grandmother, I think there is lacking formation for women that early childhood should prepare her for the development of her two essential characters: her femininity and the gift of motherhood.
Woman is the natural educator of faith in the family, the most simple and surest hand which brings us to be set out before Jesus in the Eucharist. Sadly in the last decades, woman has been losing the true meaning of her identity, therefore, of the genuine sense of her Christian mission. Evidently, there are many factors which have influenced this change of mentality, but what is certain is that the same is reflected seriously not only in family and social life of our countries, but also within the heart of the Church herself.
There is much to be done on the topic of woman; nonetheless, with great respect I propose:
1.) Within the realms of possibility, separate education for boys and girls should be maintained, with the aim of creating a propitious atmosphere to form children in the image of the Virgin Mary, model for every woman. Studies have been carried out showing that separate education for boys and girls helps, amongst other things, the educational process and the development of a healthy affectivity, especially in adolescence. If we consider the increase in sexual promiscuity, the growing number of pregnancies in adolescents, and the horrifying abortion figures, we could conclude that it is urgent to make an effort to offer young girls the suitable conditions to acquire a solid Christian formation. Separate education facilitates, furthermore, the rise in vocations to religious life; consequently, in men that of priestly vocations.
2.) I would also like to bring up for your consideration, that one should insist on the conformity of groups of youngsters, aimed specifically at girls with the aim of strengthening their feminine condition and their spiritual and doctrinal formation. Many times have I observed an excessive familiarity between youngsters of different sexes in young Catholic groups, even during the celebration of the Holy Mass. Perhaps, the conformation of mixed groups should not always be simply the norm for working with youngsters, since somehow this situation could be an obstacle for the rise of vocations to the priesthood and to religious life.
3.) Regarding No. 34 of the Instrumentum Laboris, it appears to me timely to define specific rules for the way that a woman should dress when she comes to Church or takes part in religious activities. In my country, for example, one can more and more observe a serious lack of care on the subject of modesty and the Church should help woman to be aware of the value of her dignity and the holiness of her body.
Finally, I think that, in parishes, it could be a wonderful experience, to promote the adoration of Jesus in the Sacrament by families on selected days of the week. Equally, I share in, as has been shown in the course of time in various interventions, the importance of providing confession to the lay faithful, because it is convenient, to use the confessional booth when one is dealing with women of any age, for many reasons.
[00247-02.05] [AU009] [Original text: Spanish]
- Mr. Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
My remarks are addressed to Instumentum Laboris, no. 37 on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In his recent address to the Ecclesial Congress of the Diocese of Rome, our Holy Father reminded us, "Man is created in the image of God, and God himself is love. For this reason, the vocation to love is what makes man the authentic image of God."
This call of a vocation to love is the anthropological basis of Pope John Paul II's teaching on the dignity of the human person, marriage and the family. (Familiaris consortio, no. 11) Perhaps only this "anthropology of love" is strong enough to overcome the nihilism of contemporary culture, that is, a culture that has broken the connection between freedom and truth.
Descartes sought centuries ago to overcome philosophical relativism by the assertion, "I think, therefore I am." Perhaps today relativism can be overcome by a simple and yet more profound insight, "I love, therefore I am." Or even better, "I have been loved, therefore I am."
In our time it may be only through the truth of love that the truth of freedom can once again be understood and freedom can be re-connected to truth. Every person is searching for a love that is true. And in this search for true love, each person in his or her heart can grasp whether love is true, and in this truth can grasp a basic truth of the human person.
But in a culture of materialism, secularism and relativism where can one find the reality of true love? In our increasingly post-modern culture of the West, philosophical reasoning has less and less persuasive force. Yet all people still search for love, since the vocation to love is written in the heart of each person.
We know that the love for which we search is available every day in Our Lord's living sacrifice of himself present to us in the Eucharist.
Gaudium et Spes tells us "it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear" (no. 22). Is it not also then possible that in our time it is the mystery of the Lord's holy sacrifice of himself that the identity of man-his value, his dignity, his true vocation and the profound truth of his existence-is revealed.
Thus, the Eucharistic ecclesiology and the Eucharistic community that have so often been mentioned during this meeting pre-suppose a Eucharistic anthropology. Through the exploration of a Eucharistic vision of the human person-centered on the loving sacrifice of our Lord in the Mass-we may find a new Catechism of the Eucharist which will at the same time make possible a new evangelical gift: by uniting man more intimately with Our Lord in the Eucharist will unite man more intimately with the deepest reality of himself.
[00249-02.05] [AU011] [Original text: English]
- Most Rev. Peter John ELLIOTT, Director of the John Paul II Institute for Matrimony and the Family in Melbourne. Member of the International Council for Catechesis (AUSTRALIA)
In reference to the Instrumentum Laboris, nos. 43 and 52, re the Ars Celebrandi and the eucharistic spirituality of priests. The Roman Rite currently lacks prescribed preparation and a gradual approach to the Eucharistic celebration, as is found in the Eastern Rites. Therefore I make practical suggestions: that prescribed prayers for vesting be said in the sacristy before all Masses, including concelebrations; that the competent Dicasteries of the Roman Curia prepare a 'Eucharistic Vademecum' for priests, including prayers for preparation and thanksgiving and eucharistic adoration; that all editions of the Liturgy of the Hours include the prayers of preparation and thanksgiving for Mass. During Mass a celebrant's prayer should animate his faithful observance of the rubrics, for example, a subtle use of the voice and taking time to consecrate the Sacred Species and elevate the Host and Chalice. Rubrics should be interpreted in terms of leadership in prayer. With reference to lnstrumentum Laboris, no. 66, like the Bishops of the United States, Episcopal Conferences or Ordinaries might publish adaptations of the Forty Hours Devotion, or the annual solemn exposition envisaged in the Code of Canon Law. Altar manuals for the rites of public adoration would also be welcomed by many priests.
[00250-02.05] [AU012] [Original text: English]
- Sr. Yvonne COLY, Former of the "Mater Christi" Center of Bobo-Dioulasso (SENEGAL)
Thank you Most Holy Father for having invited me to participate in this meeting which makes vibrate in me a more ecclesial heart, and gives me a more alive awareness of the Church Family, of its mystery of communion and of its universal reality.
In our case, women are called or are gathered because Life promotes or because life is threatened, each person meets with his or her own calabash.
Since it is about the Eucharist: Bread of Eternal Life; it is about Life to be welcome, and to be promoted, since the Eucharist itself carries its project, said our Pope John Paul II. So, it is serious, since there is nothing greater - and it is serious because its loss would be the worse we could have. his or her calabash.
I am an African religious woman; I come to you with my particular calabash...in the name of Life. Of our life open to the gifts of the father that one must receive - live and transmit. By the faith (white pearls), the Spirit makes us pass through death (black pearls) to life in the generosity of lived love until the end (red pearls) in joy (the cauris); it is about the calabash of the offering of communion and of sharing.
If The Eucharist makes the Church, I can also say that The Eucharist makes consacrated life. This aspect has been presented with clarity and depth by His excellency Mgs. Rode.
Starting from this symbolism of the calabash, here is what I can, what I can still add.
- Enlarged life: in the sharing of experiences of the Churches which beautiful experienced realities around the Eucharist! We rejoice and praise our God.
- Life is threatened: witnessing confirms it. People are hungry, people are thirsty! Of meaning and of dignity - of reason and of means for living: hunger, AIDS, exploitation of women and children - ecology problems...
- Life must be developed and be maintained. God has given us the Eucharist for us not to be sterile nor ungrateful (Saint Irene quoted by Mgs. A. Sanon). Alone once enlightened can adore , praise give grace, serve in spirit and in truth.
- many have insisted on the need for a catechesis at all levels - for the seminarians, likewise for us the consecrated persons, in particular for women a formation which is doctrinal, liturgical, pastoral and spiritual but also cultural, and in psycho-pedagogy of transmission and communication.
- Nurture for priests a formation in the sense and in the mission of consecrated life - in spiritual accompaniment in view of helping us to live our meetings in the sacraments of the Eucharist and of penitence as a way of conversion, of communion but also of growth and of spiritual maturity, that we may be capable of living the passagesof death to life: inherent in our condition as sinners, in difficulties of common and apostolic life.
On behalf of all the consecrated people, both active and cloistered from developing countries, I wish to thank the Holy father, his collaborators and the particular Churches for granted subsidies both for formation and for creating formation institutes in our countries. Lord, I lift up to you the calabash of faith, of Hope and of Love for your church. Produce yourself the fruits which you would like the Synod to produce so that your people may have life and have it in fullness. We ask you for this through Mary, Mother of life.
[00251-02.09[AU013] [Original text: French]
- Mr. Luis Fernando FIGARI, Founder of Sodalitium Vitae Christianae (PERU)
In the present days of magnificent experience of the ecclesial life the wonder?? before the mystery has spread before the reiterated glance at the Eucharist.
One observes that it is fundamental to study thoroughly into the appraisal of the loving and free sacrifice of the Son of Mary, the awareness of what the miracle of the Real Presence means, of who one lives the participation in the Sunday mass, the connection between Penitence and communion, the Adoration of the Lord Jesus who remains as Emmanuel in the most Holy, as the ars celebrandi, the spiritual communion, as value in itself and a reply and reply to painful pastoral situations, and so many other fundamental themes.
The impact of functional agnosticism, secularization and so many evil currents which seal the death culture invite a growing and fervent new evangelization ad intra Ecclesiae, before the weaknesses that are observed.
Faith, key to Christian life, is the fundament that permits us to draw near to the Eucharist, and therefore merits special attention. It demands an upright anthological and cultural perspective, as well as a careful look at the process of how longing for the infinite and the quadruple reconciliation of the human are snatched away by the many successors who offer ideologies and the praxis of this time/these days.
The look of faith on the gift of the Eucharist should lead to the continuous wonderment and to cry out: My Lord and my God!.
As others, todays time(s) has also characteristics and requirements which constitute a challenge to Christian life and to evangelization. But with the aid, which comes from God, they will not be unsurmountable. Yes, we should be aware of our frailties and from them open up to the light and strength which comes to our aid, and thus live and agree with the world of our hope.
[00252-02.03] [AU014] [Original text: Spanish]
- Rev. Athanasius SCHNEIDER. O.R.S., Spiritual Father and Director of Studies of the Major Seminary of Karaganda. Secretary of the Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Conference (KAZAKHSTAN)
I spent my infancy and the first part of my adolescence in the Soviet Union. Sacramental life, and especially the Eucharistic one, had to unfold in secrecy. What struck me in a deep way, and has remained as a living impression in my memory was the attitude towards Holy Communion, which I would describe as ars communicandi, in allusion to the expression ars celebrandi. I give the examples of two priests of that time. The first is Blessed Alessio Saritski, who died martyred in Kazakhstan (+30/10/1963). In the fifties, during his clandestine visits to the deported Catholics in the Urali mountains, where my parents were to be found, my mother asked him to leave a consecrated host for her seriously ill mother, who ardently wanted to receive Holy Communion one more time before dying, since she didnt know if or when a priest would return to that distant region. Blessed Alessio left a consecrated host with my mother, instructing her to administrate Holy Communion in the most reverent way possible. When the appropriate moment arrived, my mother put on some white gloves, and with a pair of tweezers gave Holy communion to her sick mother, and this was her last Communion. While administering Holy communion to her, my mother herself ardently desired to receive it, but not being able to do so sacramentally, she did so in a spiritual way. Some years passed still, before my mother could receive Holy Communion. But that spiritual communion gave her the strength to remain faithful during the time of persecution, and to transmit love and respect for the Eucharist to her children. The other example is Father Janis Pawlowski. He also spent time in the Stalinist lagers of Kazakhstan and later died in a holy was in Lithuania (+09/05/2000). He administered first Communion to me in secrecy. We were a small group of children. The external circumstances were rather modest, but there was great interior feasting in the soul, and Fr. Pawlowski used to say to us: make sure you make every Communion as if it were your first and last Communion.
[00253-02.03] [AU015] [Original text: Italian]
- Br. Marc HAYET, General Director of the Little Brothers of Jesus (FRANCE)
I start from the experience of our contemplative fraternities placed in the midst of the poor. The Eucharist is the usual way of our prayer. However, as is written by Charles Foucauld, the Lord made us join the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and an exposed life. A life exposed to the sight of poor people who know we have a job and a life similar to theirs and that we share the same concerns for a more just and worthy existence. A life exposed also to this other presence of the Lord: His presence next to the poor. Peoples lives do not leave us; this is part of our prayer. This sharing of life makes us discover the face of the God of tenderness who humbly walks with us, as the Eucharist means it.
I would like to make a request. Lets pay attention to the way we speak. To talk about our world mainly in terms of culture of death, is this not lacking respect to everybody who is trying to live their faith in God or their faith in man giving themselves up for the service of life - ever since the father or mother of a family right up to people involved in political or social life? This world, this is also the place of all types of generosity and all types of commitment, sometimes at the cost of life. And it is that world, mixed, and there is not another one where the Father loves, for the reason why He gave His Son (the Eucharist reminds us of this), and works His Spirit.
Secularization has stripped us of the influence which we had. It is hard for us to accept this. Men and women today cannot hear the Word of the Gospel unless we present it to them as a proposition addressed to their freedom, in a true dialogue where we respect their search and where we accept to receive from their competence and experience of life, including the one of the poorest who are rich in humanity. Perhaps the humble sign of bread and wine, accessible to everybody and which can be understood by everybody, invites us to this dialogue.
[00254-02.03] [AU016] [Original text: French]
- Sr. Rita BURLEY, A.C.I., Superior General of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (GREAT BRITAIN)
The Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious Congregation founded by St Raphaela María Porras in Spain in 1877, hold at the heart of their life the celebration of the Eucharist; it is to the Institute what the root is to the tree, LIFE.
The invitation of Christ to do this is memory of me is lived by prolonging the grace of the celebration in Eucharistic adoration and in apostolic work which communicates the experience of Gods redemptive love.
Contemplation of Christ in the Eucharist moves us to seek and respond to his presence in all things, making our life a continual act of worship. In all my actions I must keep in mind that I am in a great temple, and I as a priest, must offer continual sacrifice and praise, always and in everything to Gods greater glory, St. Rafaela Mary Porras.
There is no true celebration or adoration of the Eucharist that does not lead to mission. (John Paul II, 9.10.04) What transforms all we are and do into a participation in Christs mission, is the transformation of our heart by communion with the Love of Christ in the Eucharistic mystery. As we gaze upon the Heart of Him whom they have pierced (Jn 19, 37) we see the Loving Kindness of God and so we look on the world with hope.
Our desire is to be women and communities of compassion and communion, at the service of true life (Jn 6, 35). I have come that they may have life in abundance (Jn 10.10.). We do this in many ways depending on local need and culture; the Eucharist is always the pulsating heart of our mission (cf. I.L. 88).
The people of Bazertete in East Timor live the painful consequences of war. Our Sisters offer the healing presence of Eucharistic adoration, support humanitarian and educational projects and spend themselves listening to the pain and accompanying the people along the arduous road to peace and reconciliation. My peace I give you, my peace I leave you (Jn 14, 27).
In the diocese of Yokahama, Japan, in the midst of a strong Buddhist culture the Sisters give a silent witness to their faith in the Presence of the Risen Lord; and in the education they offer in schools and university transmit the gospel values of love, forgiveness and respect. Many have been drawn to faith in Jesus. When I am lifted up I will draw all people to myself (Jn 12, 32).
Eucharist and work for Justice are inseparable. Communion with Christ in the Eucharist implies accepting the moral responsibility to work with Him, in collaboration with others, to transform unjust structures and mentalities into strategies and plans which further the true nature of Gods love for our human family. God, here I am, I am coming to do your will (Heb 10, 7).
[00255-02.04] [AU017] [Original text: English]
- Rev. Ignacio GRAMSCH LABRA, Parish Vicar of San Luis Beltrán of Pudahuel, Santiago de Chile. Archdiocesan Assessor of the Pastoral Care of Acolytes (CHILE)
I am still surprised at being invited to take part in the Synod as an auditor. I am very surprised but all the more thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to listen to the with how much love you Bishops speak of the our beloved Church and are revealed for the evangelization of the todays world with the certainty of the presence of Jesus the Lord, in our midst, in the Eucharist.
For the last 5 years I have been responsible for the Pastoral of the Acolytes of the Archdiocese of Santiago. We work with children and youngsters serve at the altar, so that the celebration of the Sacraments and especially the Eucharist, should be celebrated with much love, devotion and beauty.
In the Youth and Vocational Pastoral Care we realized the importance of working with the acolytes because a rather significant percentage of the priests in Chile today, were acolytes when they were children or young. Probably some of you dear Bishops were also acolytes when you were young.
We have developed a simple formation journey for the acolytes of Santiago which consists of six stages from which the child is admitted and wishes to prepare himself to serve at the altar until he receives the Sacrament of Confimation. At each stage there are targets to achieve, topics for meetings, suggested activities and a final evaluation. Lets consider a youngster between the ages of 8 to 18. Weekly meetings are envisaged with his monitor, the closeness to the priests, the integration with the youth pastoral care. In the formation, we have taken the youngster as an integral part and alongside the doctrinal, catechetical and liturgical formation, we wish them to be good students, good children good citizens and future good parents of Catholic families.
The acolytes (altar-boys) do not only attend the Holy Mass on Sundays but also some days in the week. Being close to the lord in the Eucharist they are more ready to adore the Lord as we are told by the Instrumentum Laboris No. 65. There are accustomed to being close to and friends of the priest, so that many times they have in him, a spiritual director. Thare are used to participating in spiritual retreats and formation courses. Many of these children arrive at their chapels or churches ahead of the priest for the celebration of the Eucharist and help in the preparation of the altar, of the missal, of the lectionary, the flowers etc... They are feeling and living so that the Eucharist is from them and what they do also helps in the beauty of the celebration.
We have integrated the parents of these children, because they wish to know where their children are, with whom they are and what are the activities that they are doing. In many cases the children are the ones or have attracted their parents to the Church, thus the altar-bos are converting into an entrance portal to the sacraments for the whole family.
I would like to request that the Synod and perhaps also our Holy Father, could say a few words to foment/foster the development of altar-boys in our Church. At times, the priests prefer to work with adult committed lay faithful for these so simple liturgical services. Adults do not cause them problems, do not ask indiscreet questions, and used to be more punctual and responsible. On the other hand, one needs to have patience, toe listen to and to educate with love when one deals with children and youngsters. However, priestly vocations will not emerge from married men who already have a family and who perhaps do not trouble the Church, they will emerge from those youngsters who discover the immense love of God and who are welcomed and offered the appropriate condition for prayer and spiritual life for them to be considerate to the Lord Jesus if He calls them to follow Him closer in the priestly, religious or consecrated life. The pastoral care of the altar-boys wishes to place all the conditions so that these children and youngsters can make profound encounters with the Lord Jesus and follow Him throughout their lives in the vocation to which God wishes to call them.
[00256-02.03] [AU018] [Original text: Spanish]
- Mr. Andrea RICCARDI, Founder of the Sant'Egidio Community (ITALY)
The life of the Christian among people frequently falls into anonymity. Do Christians have something to give to others? One can give only that which one has received: the bread of the Word and of the Eucharist. Jesus says to the disciples: give them something to eat yourselves (Mt 14:16): it is the mission. If good bread is offered, the experience is that there is hunger for it; that times are less negative than it seems to us. And faced with great poverties? Today they are lost or forgotten. The poor cannot be deprived of the Gospel. Charity does not last without the nourishment of Eucharist. I saw this in many known and unknown lives among the poor, who make of the Church today - in spite of our limits - a source for the most desperate. Finally, Christians from the hell lived in the persecutions of the XX century, show that it is always possible to live and to communicate the Gospel. In the year 2000, John Paul II called to gather the witnesses of the new martyrs. I draw attention to the fact that this is an action to be undertaken in the particular Churches and at the centre of the Church. There is a testament of the martyrs to be opened in the context of Eucharist. The bond between Eucharist and martyrdom is a source of trust and hope, beyond our reading of situations, be they realistic of pessimistic.
[00257-02.03] [AU019] [Original text: Italian]
- Sr. Hermenegild MAKORO, C.P.S., of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Precious Blood; Pastoral Animation of Christian Communities (REP. OF SOUTH AFRICA)
I am Sr. Makoro, a member of the Diocesan Animation Team of the diocese of Umtata in South Africa. Since January this year we go around to the parishes and small Christian communities of the diocese and conduct workshops with them on the deeper meaning of the Eucharist. Having my ear at the pulse of the faithful at grass-root level I would like to share with you a frightening observation.
Firstly, there is an alarming ignorance even among old and good Catholics concerning the deeper meaning of the Eucharist. Secondly, for most of them, the Eucharistic Prayer is nothing more than an other prayer read by the priest after the service of the Word. The service of the Word is sometimes more exciting than the reading of the canon by the priest.
We have discovered as well that good sermons or brilliant lectures on the Eucharist remain in the air unless the deeper meaning of the Eucharist, the mystery, can be experienced in the actual celebration itself.
Therefore, please, allow me to raise the following request:
We ask our liturgical authorities to find ways and means how to highlight and emphasize essential topics theme of the Eucharist in our Eucharistic prayers in order to help the faithful to get in touch with the mystery and experience it.
For example, in the service of the Word we highlight and emphasize the presence of the Lord by a solemn gospel-book procession and singing our joyful alleluia.
Therefore, my humble request is:
Can we do something similar during the Eucharistic prayer to highlight and emphasize the various aspects of the Eucharistic mystery, for example:
- The presence of Christ in person: (e.g. by silent adoration, joyful welcome.)
- The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross: (e.g. by a crucifix being shown, emphasizing "given up for you", highlighting the breaking of bread.)
- The sacrifice of the Church: (human suffering is being voiced)
- The resurrection of Jesus: (greeting the risen Lord, isibongo!)
- The celebration of thanksgiving (let people voice short acclamations of thanksgiving)
- The celebration of unity: (bring people of different origins around the altar, peace-making
between two parties)
- The eternal Wedding Feast of the Lamb: (emphasize saints and ancestors)
My second suggestion is:
A set of Eucharistic celebrations could be prepared which are dealing with the different aspect of the Eucharistic mystery. They could suggest suitable readings, a special preface, special presidential prayers and different possibilities to highlight the particular theme during the Eucharistic prayers. Such a set of Eucharistic celebrations could be used in parishes occasionally in order to highlight a special aspect of the Eucharistic mystery.
[00258-02.02] [AU020] [Original text: English]
- Mr. Zbigniew NOSOWSKI, Director of the Catholic monthly "Więź", Warsaw; Member of the National Council for the Laity in Poland (POLAND)
1. 10 years ago together with friends of the same generation I prepared a book and a TV series entitled "Children of Vatican II ask questions". The phrase we chose - "children of the Council" - became quite popular in Poland as a name for those Catholics who were born together with II Vatican Council and who do NOT remember any other liturgy but the one in our native language, for whom things discovered anew by the last Council as universal call to holiness, ecumenical openness, dialogue with other religions and with non-believers - are by no means novelties, but a part of the obvious Church's official teaching, part and parcel of Tradition.
Out of this experience let me now use this opportunity of speaking at the Synod of Bishops that is taking place in the year of the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II in order to thank God's Providence for this great gift of the Council and of postconciliar reforms, including a liturgical one. There have been, of course, many abuses in celebrating the Eucharist and they should be overcome. But let me express my conviction that were it not for the liturgical reform, many Catholics of my generation would have not found their place in the Church (or at least it would have been much more difficult).
2. The Eucharist is undoubtedly the most important moment of the Church's life. Let me use the business language - it is the Church's flagship or showcase. Very often it is the only reality through which a number of nominal Catholics or non-Catholics have any direct contact with the Church. Therefore, even for pragmatic reasons, we should do our best in every parish in order to make Sunday mass a truly beautiful one, inspiring, leading its participants into depth. It is fine when parishes are revitalized with festive garden-parties or sport activities, but the most important element of parish life should be care for the Sunday Eucharist.
In this field the responsibility of a priest is the crucial one. If a Mass is only said by a priest, it is only listened to by his parishioners. If it is celebrated by a priest as the great mystery, if he knows, feels and expresses the spirit of liturgy, if he in a visible way prays while celebrating the Eucharist - it is experienced by the laity as an invitation to the deep communion with God.
3. So much depends on the priest, but at the same time let me say that what I'm lacking in this Synod's discussions is a reflection on lay spirituality, say: lay Eucharistic spirituality. Instrumentum laboris mentions it very briefly in numbers 75-76, but it reduced there to devotions. For me the Eucharistic spirituality is not just mass attendance and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It covers the whole life.
Especially lay Christians of today do need a new understanding of relations between the Eucharist and their everyday life. The Eucharist - as a sacrifice, as a presence, as a meal, as a memorial - says something very important and very concrete to our daily decisions, to what we do in our marriages, in our families, in our offices, in our kitchens, in our bedrooms, in the social life. It says: the more you give yourself to others, the more you'll find yourself; the more you love, the more you should sacrifice; the more you give, the more you'll receive. This is the Eucharistic attitude, in this way you become a truly Eucharistic person, even if you do not participate in the Holy Mass everyday. In this way Mary was a woman of the Eucharist - yet before it was established!
4. My over 20 years experience of participation in the "Faith and Ught" movement founded by Jean Vanier and Marie-Helene Mathieu leads to my final suggestion. In these communities, gathered around persons with mental handicaps, I learned that the Church has got two treasures: the Eucharist and the poor. But both treasures rather seldom go together. We need visible signs of their unity. In a special way those who take part in sharing of the Eucharistic bread should always in a visible way express their solidarity with the poor ones who do not have their daily bread to eat.
[00259-02.02] [AU021] [Original text: English]
- Ms. Marie-Hélène MATHIEU, International Coordinator of the Movement "Foi et Lumière" (FRANCE)
With reference to No. 79 of the Instrumentum Laboris, there is mention here to the link between Christ present in the Eucharist and Christ present in disable persons, whether physical, sensorial, psychic or mental (who represent 20 to 25% of the population).
1. The attitude of society, in spite of all the progress accomplished is often still scornful and considered as a cast out. (For example, laws on abortion envisage the suppression of a disable child right up to the eve of birth). At the extreme opposite ends of these customs, Jesus shows special love for all the disable people. In addition to the treasure of His presence in the Eucharist, jesus assures us of His presence in the poor and weak.
2. John Paul II, speaking of mentally disable people, said to them: Take your place in the heart of the Church. How can the parishes help them to better find this place?
Special adjustments can contribute towards this, but what is more important is the quality of welcome which allows each one to feel loved, called to love, and to be useful.
3. The Church asks parents for the unconditional respect of the sacred life of their child since his or her conception. Since it is important at the same time, for her to give them light, support them and assure them of her presence by their side in the human and spiritual growth of their samll child!
4. People who have a mentally disable person, since they cannot express themselves with words, they can show by their attitude that they can distinguish the body of Christ from ordinary nourishment, and can be prepared to receive it.
Conversely, some priests, referring to Canon Law 913 hesitate to give the Eucharist to people who are very disable who do not seem to have relations.
Could one not consider the great wish and joy of Jesus to give Himself to the most deprived of His faithful? Could the practices of the Oriental Churches concerning the three sacraments of Christian initiation help the Church to deepen her reflection on this subject?
[00260-02.04] [AU022] [Original text: French]
- Mr. Alexei V. JUDIN, Professor of History of the Church and of Inter-confessional Dialogue in the Russian Federation, Russian State University for the Humanities, St. Thomas College (Moscow) (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
I would like to make a brief reference to number 86 of the Instrumentum Laboris on the theme Eucharist and Ecumenism.
As you know, in Russia we Catholics face in a serious way the problem of dialogue with the Orthodox. In this Synodal Hall we have recently heard different interventions on this point, among them the practical specification of Card. W. Kasper. The reports of Card. L. Husar and some of the Prelates of the Catholic Oriental Churches. The question asked by Card. Husar about the paradoxical existence of the supersummit of Christian life in the perspective of the unity of the Churches, touches my heart and seems most demanding. The truth is that before the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we, both Catholic and Orthodox, experience that true amazement which has been mentioned so often during this Assembly. This amazement is disconcerting and frustrating. The reality is that it is exactly in the ecumenical significance of the Eucharist that the great scandal of the division among Christians reveals itself. Exactly in front of the Eucharistic Christ it becomes evident that there are no excuses for the disintegration of the Christian world.
From us Catholics there are norms that regulate intercommunion with non Catholics. But the mutual recognition with the Orthodox of the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist commits us to take steps forward in the road or coming closer once again. Which steps must we take? First of all, without violating the well set out rules and diluting Catholic identity, we must think how to overcome the present ecumenical crisis. Ecumenism, in its present form is concentrated above all on arguments over diverse historical, theological issues, etc. The dimension of a spiritual Ecumenism limits itself to generic prayers and fraternal encounters at different levels, but stops in short, before the Eucharist. In effect, all these expressions and events try to evade the Eucharistic reality.
In this case, I think the self-same presence of Jesus in the Eucharist should guide us towards the future. It is necessary to go in depth to the meaning of this living presence of the Lord. This common path must continue on the road already begun of reciprocal knowledge. In the last century we made real progress in that knowledge, and we should not content ourselves with the fruits gathered up to now.
How can we deepen this knowledge in the perspective of the Eucharist? I have no certain answer, but I can offer you a proposal. We have many charisms in the Catholic Church - the charisms of the diverse Orders, the different Religious Congregations, of the various Movements, etc. We can assure the unity between them, not only on a juridic-administrative level, but also on a spiritual level. These charisms, these spiritual gifts of the Catholic reality are very different among themselves. Perhaps even more differentiated, if not in doctrine, definitely in sensitivity and expression, than the Catholic reality and the Orthodox reality in their complex whole. Therefore, if we are able to organize things in the Catholic environment guaranteeing unity among the different charisms, why can we not bring closer the Eucharistic Mystery together in the reconciled unity between the Orient and the West. The crucial and decisive issue in this case is summarized in the absolute sincerity in retaining that our strength is in Christ and in his Eucharistic presence, as the well known Orthodox theologian, Pavel Florenskij, said.
[00292-02.02] [AU023] [Original text: Italian]
- Mr. Francisco José GÓMEZ ARGÜELLO WIRTZ, Co-Founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way (SPAIN)
I cannot neglect bearing witness before this Assembly to that which the Lord is doing.
I have still before my eyes the encounter of cologne, where the Way has brought more than 100 thousand young people and where, as a fruit of the Days with Pope Benedict XVI, in the vocational encounter that we had the day after, a thousand young people to enter the Seminary, and so many girls for the life of contemplation and adoration.
How was this event possible? The Pope said it in Cologne: form communities based on faith that walk a journey towards Christ, in communion with the Pope and with the Bishops.
It is amazing to think that behind each of these young people there is a small community in the Parish, in which they are following a journey of Christian Initiation and in which the Eucharist, celebrated in their own community, is fundamental to mature their faith and their vocation.
Many of these youths come from families that are already rebuilt, and others, that were far from the Church, have seen the signs of faith in living communities. They have received the proclamation of the kerygma in Catechesis and have initiated a post-Baptismal catechumenate of rediscovery of Baptism, at the centre of which is the Easter vigil that sings and realizes the mystery of our salvation.
Given that the Eucharist, Easter of the week, feeds Christian life, we must ask ourselves today: What si Christian life? What does the Church announce?
That God has sent his son to the world to make the world pass from this world to Heaven, from slavery to freedom, from death to life. Christ, is risen, the Church cries! Christ has won over death and lives risen in Christians. How can we carry this news to the world? St Paul says: always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body... so that when death is at work in us, the world receives life. (2 cor 4:10;12)
This is the dynamism of Easter that feeds out faith: we need Christ to give us, in the Eucharist his dying for us, in the broken bread and in his Blood poured out, in order to show his Resurrection, his eternal life, to the world.
[00293-02.04] [AU024] [Original text: Italian]
Sr. Margaret WONG, F.D.C.C., of the Congregation of the Cannossian Daughters of Charity; Promoter of the Centers of Eucharistic Adoration (Hong Kong)
Thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of the disabled people of HK.
In the past, most of our handicapped people were deprived of Eucharistic Celebration because the churches were "not" accessible. Thank God that in 1993, the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Disabled was set up and our disabled started having masses for different groups, according to their special needs. Despite our limitation and poverty, like the poor widow in the Gospel, we invested "all" we had with wholeheartedness.
In those years, our society was full of fear and uncertainty before the return to China in 1997. Recognizing our powerlessness in resolving any problem, we started to commit ourselves to daily holy-hour and intercessory prayers in the Handicapped Centre. By 1996, Adoration was extended to 12 hours daily, focussing on prayer for the sanctification of priests. We were deeply touched by witnessing the disabled take all the sacrifices to come for Mass and adoration, while the so called "able" have no time.
Meanwhile, the percentage of people with psychological problems and suicidal tendency was ever increasing. These people with a broken self-image, broken relationships and broken spirit were rejected by their broken families and our broken society marked with secularism and materialism. We see in the Eucharist the broken heart of Christ thirsting to save a broken humanity; in Him we learn to embrace and love sincerely all these broken ones. We invited them to seek spiritual healing from our Eucharistic Lord. Many inner healings were reported, and we also received numerous phone calls from strangers requesting intercessions. In response to the urgent inner calling to my heart from our Lord, in 2002, I set up a small group aiming at Lay consecrated life with the name "Eucharistic Oblates for the Vulnerable" with the full support from our Bishop Joseph Zen. It started with 7 members with physical, mental or other vulnerabilities and we were all dedicated to perpetual adoration. We believe that vulnerability is a loving gift from the Father and can be transformed into blessings, a pathway for sanctification through the transforming power of the Eucharist.
To start with, our group supported the daily adoration at the Pastoral Centre to become a Perpetual Adoration centre. With the increase of members, we had a 2nd Perpetual Adoration Centre since Ash Wednesday of this year. In both Centres, we are blessed to have daily mass (with homily), Benediction, Marian hour and sung Divine Office (even for the blind), weekly Lectio Divina for different age groups, monthly Healing Masses and Catechesis and several Retreats centred on Eucharistic With this special Charism of joining broken people to Eucharistic adoration, the Lord gradually sends us many volunteers who are also dedicated to perpetual Eucharistic adoration to help our ministry, such as:
1. To fast on bread and water every Wednesday and Friday, and to pray particularly for individual priests.
2. Weekly, and monthly Eucharistic adoration for Children, and even over-night adoration during Holidays.
3. Eucharistic adoration for hundreds of primary school students of which only around 10% are Catholic, calling on the amazement of their teachers for their extraordinary attentiveness towards the Eucharistic Lord.
4. Eucharistic adoration in Republic China, resulting with daily holy hour or even perpetual adoration in all the Parishes to which we have gone. (e.g.Bien Chuen in Hebei, & St. Peter and Paul in Shanghai).
5. Spiritual Healing of SARS patients and relatives, as well as front line medical workers at critical periods
6. Daily Lunch time fasting & intercession.
7. Intercession from 12 midnight to 6 a.m. for the priest's homily.
8. Website: www.eucharisticoblate.org/.
We pray that, through the intercession of our late Pope John Paul II, the Eucharistic Lord may feed the hunger of our Chinese people with His Word and His Bread and soon His majesty may reign in China. Maranatha. Amen.
[00305-02.05] [AU025] [Original text: English]
♦ NOTICES
● BRIEFING
● SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
● THIRD PRESS CONFERENCE
● BRIEFING
The Briefing of the linguistic groups of Saturday 15 October 2005 will take place at mid-day.
● SECOND PRESS CONFERENCE
Accredited journalists are informed that on Saturday 22 October 2005, at 12:45 p.m., in the John Paul II Conference Hall of the Holy See Press Office, the Third Press Conference will be held on the works of the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Elenchus finalis). There 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 IÑIGUEZ
Archbishop of Guadalajara (Mexico)
President-Delegate
● H.Em. Card. Telesphore Placidus TOPPO
Archbishop of Ranchi (India)
President-Delegate
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. John Patrick FOLEY
Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari
President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
President of the Commission for Information
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Sofron Stefan MUDRY, O.S.B.M.
Bishop Emeritus of Ivano-Frankivsk, Stanislav of the Ukrainians
Vice-President of the Commission for Information
● THIRD PRESS CONFERENCE
Accredited journalists are informed that on Saturday 22 October 2005, at 12:45 p.m., in the John Paul II Conference Hall of the Holy See Press Office, the Third Press Conference will be held on the works of the XI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Elenchus finalis).
● H. Em. Card. George PELL
Archbishop of Sydney (Australia)
● H. Em. Card. Marc OUELLET, P.S.S.
Archbishop of Québec (Canada)
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Roland MINNERATH
Archbishop of Dijon (France)
Special Secretary
● H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Salvatore FISICHELLA
Titular Bishop of Voghenza
Auxiliary of Rome
Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome
|
