QUEBEC,QC,CA — Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl used these words as he ended an engaging story during his catechesis on the first full day of proceedings at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress (IEC). Archbishop Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., along with the other opening speakers, have thus far used the congress as a call to the faithful. It is a call to awaken ourselves to total participation in the Eucharist: the Real Presence of Christ, celebration, sacrifice, service to others, and commitment.
Days of Deep Catechesis
The conference opened Sunday with a colorful pageant and a mass presided over by Jozef Cardinal Tomko, the Papal Legate to the 49th IEC. He signaled great days of deep catechesis in his homily when he spoke of the times people ponder, “Where does this world come from and where is it going? Is it worthwhile to live? “This,” he answered “is when the Eucharist appears to us in its greatness.”
Cardinal Tomko urged the pilgrims to consider the fact that Christ “wanted to remain with us in this form, because He wanted to be our food.” It is in food that He can most intimately come into communion with us and become the very energy of our lives. Christ commands that we celebrate the Eucharist in memory of Him, “Not just to remember Him with speeches and words, but to do what He has done,” exhorted the Cardinal. For this reason, the Cardinal passionately urged, “We cannot loose Sunday! If we understand the meaning of the Eucharist, we will increase the frequency of our attendance.”
Full Participation is to Live History
On Monday morning, Archbishop Wuerl picked up the theme, by reminding us that the Eucharist is a celebration of all of the events of Holy Week in that we are to recall not only Christ’s suffering, but also what He accomplished for us. “We do more than listen,” Archbishop Wuerl reminded, “the events are made present to us. This is a totally new way of bringing the past to the present.”
He urged the pilgrims to understand the establishment of Eucharist in the context of the Passover Dinner. Moses and the people of Israel came to understand that they were to take this ritual meal and make it their identity. This same idea is repeated in the Pascal mystery. In this same way, said Archbishop Wuerl, “We do not reflect on history in the Eucharist; what we do is live history in the Eucharist. Here we encounter Christ in the moment of His death and resurrection as we enter that mystery. ”
The Archbishop shared a personal story of being on a long flight when a fellow passenger asked, “How do you know that [what you believe] is true?” In response, the Archbishop explained the Church, the Sacraments and the Eucharist. The man was astounded to learn these things and pushed back when told that we literally believe that we are Christ’s body. As the flight landed, the man in apparent amazement asked, “Do you ever tell anybody about this?” As laughter boomed through the Pepsi Coliseum, the question hung in the air.
“How do we do that?” the Archbishop asked the pilgrims. He answered by suggesting that our participation in the Eucharist should extend beyond the mass and into our daily lives. “The strength we derive from the Eucharist” he offered, “can bring about God’s kingdom.” He challenged those listening, who were likely faithful worshipers at Sunday mass, “Do we ever look to bring someone with us?”
Be Christ to Others
In his homily at the Monday Mass, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, urged, “Let us ask, to be ourselves sources of love for the world.” He called the faithful to remember the current food crisis facing the poor of the world, “Certain basic foods like rice and corn have seen their prices double or triple in a few weeks and this to the great anguish of the poor who do not have the capacity anymore of buying these foods at exorbitant costs.”
He continued, “We cannot take this bread of life [the Eucharist] without concerning ourselves also with the fate of those who are hungry. Let us now seek to know, to understand the causes of this food crisis and require some kind of political action, all while committing ourselves to a greater and a more just distribution of basic food stuff (without forgetting water) so that the poorest not be excluded from the common table.”
Radical Self-giving
On Tuesday these themes were extended in a radical way by Philippe Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon and Primate of the Gauls, France. He directed us to see that Christ still addresses the doubts of the faithful as He did after His resurrection by showing us His wounds or asking for something to eat. The clear implication being that we should seek-out those people in whom Jesus is wounded or hungry today.
We should approach the Eucharist as a balance triptych. “Three master words sum up the mystery of Eucharist in our faith: Presence, Sacrifice and Communion,” Cardinal Barbarin explained. He added that these three are each given understanding, in their turn, through Resurrection, Good Friday and Holy Thursday.
“Full participation,” the Cardinal challenged, “says, ‘Yes Lord, I give myself to you’.” He offered for our consideration expression of the totality of self giving: priestly celibacy, a woman in pregnancy, a married couple and a teenager living chastely. He spoke movingly of the handicapped, widows and martyrs who face a greater sacrifice of self-giving.
All of us have been sent, “The verbs ‘love’ and ‘send’ are interchangeable,” Cardinal Barbarin reminded. “The truth is that when God loves us, He associates us with the great adventure of the salvation on the world.” Referring to St. Paul he charged, “Christ Jesus has never been yes and no. There was only yes in Him.”
Seemingly to encourage the faithful to respond to the questioner on Archbishop Wuerl’s flight, Stanislaw Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, provided the answer in his homily. “I remember means; I am a living image of the risen lord. We must become Calvary.”
