Reviving the wonder” “

“The Church lives by the Eucharist”. So opens the latest encyclical of John Paul II, ‘Ecclesia de Eucharistia’, published on Maundy Thursday (17 April). The document was issued in lieu of the letter that the Pope annually addresses to all the world’s priests. “This year, the twenty-fifth of my pontificate – explains the Holy Father –, I wish to involve the whole Church more fully in this eucharistic reflection”. The Pope also confides that he wrote the letter, with the objective of reviving the wonder before the eucharistic mystery. The document was signed a hundred years after the publication of “Mirae Caritatis” (28/05/1902), Leo XIII’s encyclical on the Eucharist. To it should be added Pius XII’s “Mediator Dei”(20/11/1947) and Paul VI’s “Mysterium Fidei”(03/09/1965). “When I think of the Eucharist, looking back on my life as priest, as bishop, as successor of Peter, I involuntarily remember the many moments and the many places in which I have been privileged to celebrate it”: the church of Niegowic, the college church of St. Florian in Cracow, the cathedral of the Wawel, St. Peter’s basilica and the many basilicas and churches of Rome and throughout the world. This is the inspiration, a highly personal one, which has led the Pope to reflect on the Eucharist. From its very beginning the document goes to the heart of the Christian faith: “to what took place during the Last Supper and after it”. “From the paschal mystery – recalls John Paul II – the Church was born. Just for this reason the Eucharist, which is the sacrament par excellence of the paschal mystery, is placed at the very centre of ecclesial life”. Mystery of the faith. Of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, the Church not only preserves the memory, but participates in it every time she celebrates the Eucharist. By eating this bread, we anticipate in history a reflection of the future reality: to this corresponds the believer’s concrete assumption of responsibilities: the dedication to peace, justice, a fairer distribution of goods. The Eucharist builds the Church. The baptized, like all men and women, experience the burden of divisions and indifference to the fate of others, especially the poor. The Eucharist unites believers, transforms them into a community. It is from this sacrament that the Church’s missionary force is born and renewed. The apostolic nature of the Eucharist and the Church. The priest who “acts in persona Christi” is indispensable if the Church is to exist in the full sense. The Eucharist remains the centre and culmination of every parish community. The encyclical underlines this, warning of the dangers of possible “ecumenical” ambiguities or of thinking that the eucharistic celebration can be substituted by other celebrations. The priest, moreover, finds in the Eucharist the equilibrium he needs if he is not to squander his efforts in the various pastoral activities. The Eucharist and ecclesial communion. The Eucharist, as sacrament of the unity of the Church, requires a context of reconciliation and brotherly communion, beginning with the relation with one’s own bishop and then with the Pope. It remains the task of each to safeguard and promote this ecclesial communion, and also to support the ecumenical dynamic, in the hope of one day being able to celebrate the one Eucharist together. The Pope, in stressing “the communion which is intrinsic to the Eucharist”, does not ignore “the importance of the Sunday Mass”: “it is an obligation for the faithful to participate in Mass, unless they be prevented from so doing by a grave impediment; Pastors therefore have the corresponding duty to give everyone the opportunity” to participate in Sunday Mass. The decorum of the eucharistic celebration. The Church is conscious that “the unfathomable depths of the holiness of God” are expressed in the simplicity of signs. Hence the need to approach the eucharistic meal with genuine humility, to remain faithful to the liturgical forms and to ensure the decorum of the setting in which it is being celebrated. At the school of Mary, “eucharistic” Woman. The Virgin, by the offer of her womb, is the model for the Church and for each believer. She is the first tabernacle. In the Eucharist the Church makes the spirituality of the ‘Magnificat’ her own.