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The full text can be read at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050821_20th-world-youth-day_en.html
Let us
return once more to the Last Supper. The new element to emerge here was
the deeper meaning given to Israel's ancient prayer of blessing, which
from that point on became the word of transformation, enabling us to
participate in the "hour" of Christ. Jesus did not instruct us to repeat
the Passover meal, which in any event, given that it is an anniversary,
is not repeatable at will. He instructed us to enter into his "hour".
We enter
into it through the sacred power of the words of consecration - a
transformation brought about through the prayer of praise which places
us in continuity with Israel and the whole of salvation history, and at
the same time ushers in the new, to which the older prayer at its
deepest level was pointing.
The new
prayer - which the Church calls the "Eucharistic Prayer" - brings the
Eucharist into being. It is the word of power which transforms the gifts
of the earth in an entirely new way into God's gift of himself, and it
draws us into this process of transformation. That is why we call this
action "Eucharist", which is a translation of the Hebrew word beracha -
thanksgiving, praise, blessing, and a transformation worked by the
Lord: the presence of his "hour". Jesus' hour is the hour in which love
triumphs. In other words: it is God who has triumphed, because he is
Love.
Jesus' hour
seeks to become our own hour and will indeed become so if we allow
ourselves, through the celebration of the Eucharist, to be drawn into
that process of transformation that the Lord intends to bring about. The
Eucharist must become the centre of our lives.
If the
Church tells us that the Eucharist is an essential part of Sunday, this
is no mere positivism or thirst for power. On Easter morning, first the
women and then the disciples had the grace of seeing the Lord. From that
moment on, they knew that the first day of the week, Sunday, would be
his day, the day of Christ the Lord. The day when creation began became
the day when creation was renewed. Creation and redemption belong
together. That is why Sunday is so important.
It is good
that today, in many cultures, Sunday is a free day, and is often
combined with Saturday so as to constitute a "week-end" of free time.
Yet this free time is empty if God is not present.
Dear
friends! Sometimes, our initial impression is that having to include
time for Mass on a Sunday is rather inconvenient. But if you make the
effort, you will realize that this is what gives a proper focus to your
free time.
Do not be
deterred from taking part in Sunday Mass, and help others to discover it
too. This is because the Eucharist releases the joy that we need so
much, and we must learn to grasp it ever more deeply, we must learn to
love it.
Let us
pledge ourselves to do this - it is worth the effort! Let us discover
the intimate riches of the Church's liturgy and its true greatness: it
is not we who are celebrating for ourselves, but it is the living God
himself who is preparing a banquet for us. |
