Reflections on a Eucharistic Congress
By Cardinal Justin Rigali
We know that Jesus tells us: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). This is why the Church has practiced communal prayer from the very beginning (cf. Acts 12:5). Indeed, there are many different ways in which Jesus is present in His Church and in our midst. Pope Paul VI wrote: “Christ is present in His Church when she prays. He is present in the Church as she performs her works of mercy, not just because whatever good we do to one of His least ones we do to Christ himself, but also because Christ is the one who performs these works through the Church and who continually helps us with His divine love. He is present in the Church as she preaches, since the Gospel which she proclaims is the word of God; He is present in His Church as she rules and governs the people of God, since her sacred power comes from Christ and since Christ, the ‘Shepherd of Shepherds’ is present in the bishops who exercise that power in keeping with the promise He made to the Apostles. But there is another way in which Christ is present in His Church, a way that surpasses all the others. It is His presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist” (Mysterium Fidei, 35, 36, 37).
Saint Thomas Aquinas, the great doctor of the Eucharist, reminds us that we rightly called this one sacrament “blessed” because it is holier than all the other sacraments in what it contains, for it contains Christ himself, “the consummation of the spiritual life, and in a sense the goal of all the sacraments” (Summa Theologiae, IIIa, p. 73, a. 3, c.).
The establishment of Eucharistic Congresses
In order to unite the concepts of communal prayer, along with the desire to honor the gift of Himself, which Jesus has given us in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the idea of a Eucharistic Congress arose toward the end of the nineteenth century. A Eucharistic Congress is a period of time, which is set aside in a particular place for reflection on the mystery of the Eucharist by means of conferences, acts of piety and, most of all, external adoration of the Eucharist by those gathered together to honor this great mystery. Although these congresses initially began in France on a national level, they eventually developed into International Eucharistic Congresses held in different parts of the world every few years. The Pope sends a representative, called a legate, to honor the event and to make the successor of Peter spiritually present at the congress. Some of the congresses have been particularly noteworthy because of the circumstances in which they were held.
The first International Eucharistic Congress in an English speaking country was held in London in 1908. At that Congress, the traditional procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets could not take place because of the objection of some groups. Instead, the Papal Legate, along with many English bishops and representatives of the lay faithful, processed through the streets of London and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was given from the balcony of the Cathedral. At the Congress in Ireland in 1932, 25% of the entire population of that country attended the closing Mass of the Congress. The first Eucharistic Congress held in the United States took place in Chicago in 1926 and the marvelous attendance of the faithful, along with the magnificently planned and executed ceremonies, are still written about.
We know that through the zeal of my predecessor, Cardinal Krol, the 41st International Eucharistic Congress, the second held in the United States, was held in our own city of Philadelphia in 1976, the year of our country’s Bicentennial. I am presently attending the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, being held in Quebec, Canada from June 15 to June 22.
Theme of this year’s Congress
The theme of this year’s International Eucharistic Congress is: “The Eucharist, gift of God for the life of the world.” We know that love is always expansive, that is, it must be given to another. For instance, the love of God is expressed within the Most Blessed Trinity by the love between the Father and the Son, which is the Holy Spirit. This is why we can say that God is love. He shows that love for us through the miracle of creation and, most of all, through the mysteries of our Redemption. A very basic element of love is sacrifice. Many of you who are parents and spouses, as well as those who give themselves in generous friendships and in the priesthood and the consecrated life, know that any loving relationship involves sacrifice. When we read the account of the Last Supper in the Gospel of Saint John, we are told that Jesus “loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.” That “end” was actually twofold: the Death of Jesus on the Cross and the institution of the Eucharist, which looked ahead to the Cross.
The Eucharist was instituted in a sacrificial setting, as the Passover meal Jesus was sharing commemorated the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery and God’s command that they sacrifice a spotless lamb to give thanks for their deliverance. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is now about to free all people from their sins by the sacrifice of His very self. On the night before He died, He is thinking of all who would come after, which means He was thinking of us. This is why the theme of this Congress can refer to Jesus in the Eucharist as God’s gift for the life of the world. On the night before He was to destroy sin and death, Jesus left us the gift of His very self in the Blessed Sacrament. The making present of this gift in every Mass, its reception in every Holy Communion and its adoration in every tabernacle and monstrance continues to bring life to the world by means of the grace this gift produces.
Our knowledge of this mystery is never complete
From its very beginning, the Church has constantly reflected on her greatest treasure, the Blessed Eucharist. The thought of God giving Himself “body, blood, soul and divinity,” as the Church teaches us, under the appearances of bread and wine can never be fully understood in this life. This is why the study of it will never be exhausted. Speaking of the night this sacrament was instituted, Pope Paul VI said: “He himself wished to give that encounter such a fullness of meaning, such a richness of memories, such a moving image of words and thoughts, such a newness of acts and precepts, that we can never exhaust our reflection and exploration of it” (Homily on Holy Thursday, 27 March 1975). Part of what I am doing here in Quebec in participating in this Eucharistic Congress is reflecting anew on this great mystery, along with the Papal Legate, other Cardinals, many bishops, priests, deacons, religious men and women and thousands of the lay faithful.
We know that the reception and adoration of the Eucharist, as well as our reflection on it, must always result in an outward movement of charity. This is what brought the Eucharist from the loving Heart of Jesus and it is what He wants us to do after being strengthened by it. In his encyclical “God is Love,” Pope Benedict wrote: “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.” This is why a number of the conferences and meditations that are taking place during the Congress address our obligation to care for the poor and the needy and those considered the “least” in the eyes of the world but the “greatest” in the sight of God. There is also a consciousness of the environment at this Congress, and those attending have been encouraged to use the plentiful public transportation as much as possible in order to be good stewards of the environment while they reflect on the Eucharist.
The “New Ark of the Covenant”
There is an interesting addition to this Congress being held in Quebec. It came at the suggestion of young people, who had been so inspired by the traveling Cross that has been associated with the World Youth Days. They came up with the idea of having an image that would travel throughout Canada in preparation for the Eucharistic Congress. They settled upon the image of a large Ark. It is decorated with icons representing the Eucharist, which have been used as material for meditation and discussion in the places the Ark has passed through. There is also a place where a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament can be enthroned, anticipating the adoration to take place at the Congress.
Within the Ark, there is plenty of room for petitions and pledges of prayer and works of charity that the faithful have made along the route which the Ark has taken. The route itself brought the Ark to the principal shrines found across Canada, recalling God’s goodness to His people in this particular part of the world and it has now ended up here in our midst at this International Eucharistic Congress.
Please know, dear brothers and sisters, that you are very much a part of my prayer and reflection here in Quebec. I pray that the blessings of this Congress may be extended also to you, the faithful of the Church of Philadelphia.
June 19, 2008