There is nothing magic in Christianity. There are no short cuts, but everything passes through the humble, patient logic of the grain of wheat which dies to give life, the logic of the faith which moves mountains with the meek strength of God. For this reason God wishes to renew humanity, its history and the universe by means of this chain of transformations of which the Eucharist is the sacrament. By means of the consecrated bread and wine, in which his Body and Blood are truly present, Christ transforms us, assimilating us to himself; he involves us in his work of redemption, making us capable by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit of living according to the same logic which is his, that of gift, like grains of wheat united to Him and in Him. Thus, sown and maturing in the furrows of history are the unity and peace which are the end to which we are directed, according to the plan of God. Without any illusions, without ideological utopias, we pass along the roads of the world, bearing within ourselves the Body of the Lord, as did the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation. With the humility of recognizing ourselves as simple grains of wheat, we preserve the firm certitude that the love of God, incarnate in Christ, is more powerful than evil, than violence and than death. We know that God has prepared for all people a new heavens and a new earth, in which peace and justice will reign - and in faith we glimpse the new world, which is our real fatherland. This evening too, we are set off on a journey with us there is Jesus in the Eucharist, the Risen One who has said: "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Mt 28: 20).
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Benedict XVI on the Eucharist (Corpus Christi Homily 2011)
There is nothing magic in Christianity. There are no short cuts, but everything passes through the humble, patient logic of the grain of wheat which dies to give life, the logic of the faith which moves mountains with the meek strength of God. For this reason God wishes to renew humanity, its history and the universe by means of this chain of transformations of which the Eucharist is the sacrament. By means of the consecrated bread and wine, in which his Body and Blood are truly present, Christ transforms us, assimilating us to himself; he involves us in his work of redemption, making us capable by means of the grace of the Holy Spirit of living according to the same logic which is his, that of gift, like grains of wheat united to Him and in Him. Thus, sown and maturing in the furrows of history are the unity and peace which are the end to which we are directed, according to the plan of God. Without any illusions, without ideological utopias, we pass along the roads of the world, bearing within ourselves the Body of the Lord, as did the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation. With the humility of recognizing ourselves as simple grains of wheat, we preserve the firm certitude that the love of God, incarnate in Christ, is more powerful than evil, than violence and than death. We know that God has prepared for all people a new heavens and a new earth, in which peace and justice will reign - and in faith we glimpse the new world, which is our real fatherland. This evening too, we are set off on a journey with us there is Jesus in the Eucharist, the Risen One who has said: "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Mt 28: 20).
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