By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“The Lord receives, sanctifies, and blesses the bread and wine that we place on the Altar, together with the offering of our lives, and transforms them into the Body and Blood of Christ, a sacrifice of love for the salvation of the world.”
Pope Leo XIV offered this reminder during his Angelus address on Sunday.
In his remarks, the Pope recalled that today, in many places, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, with the Gospel reading according to St Luke, which recounts the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
The passage describes how Jesus, in order to feed the thousands of people who had come to listen to Him and seek healing, invites the Apostles to offer Him the little they have and then blesses the loaves and the fish and commands them to distribute them to all.
The Pope recalled that the result is astonishing, for not only does everyone receive enough to eat, but there is even an abundance left over.
“This miracle, beyond being a prodigy, is a ‘sign,'” Pope Leo observed, marveling how “it reminds us that God’s gifts even the smallest grow all the more when they are shared.”
The Holy Father underscored that as the faithful read this passage on the feast of Corpus Christi, they are invited to reflect on an even deeper reality, namely, “a greater sharing” that precedes all human sharing, namely, “God’s sharing with us.”
How meaningful it is to receive a gift
“He, the Creator, who gave us life in order to save us,” the Pope said, “asked one of His creatures to become His mother, to give Him a body: fragile, limited, mortal like ours, entrusting Himself to her like a child.”
With this gesture, he said, the Lord “fully shared our poverty, choosing to use, for our redemption, precisely the little that we were able to offer Him.”
Pope Leo called on Christians to consider “how beautiful it is when we give a gift even a small one, according to our means and see that it is appreciated by the one who receives it.”
“How happy we are when we sense that, despite its simplicity,” he said, “that gift draws us closer to those we love.”
A sacrifice of love for the world’s salvation
In the Eucharist, the Pope said, something similar happens between us and God, with the sanctification of the bread and wine on the altar, together with the offering of our lives, to transform them into Christ’s Body and Blood to work toward the world’s salvation.
“God,” he reaffirmed, “unites Himself to us by joyfully accepting what we bring to Him,” and “invites us to unite ourselves to Him by receiving and sharing with just as much joy His gift of love.”
In this way, Pope Leo noted, citing St Augustine, “Just as from many grains of wheat, gathered together, one bread is made, so in the concord of charity one body of Christ is formed.”
Corpus Christi celebration in Rome
Prior to concluding, the Holy Father noted that late Sunday afternoon he would lead the traditional Eucharistic Procession for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in Rome, beginning with Mass at the Basilica of St John Lateran and leading to the Basilica of St Mary Major.
“We will celebrate Holy Mass together, and then we will set out, carrying the Most Blessed Sacrament through the streets of our city,” Pope Leo said. “We will sing, we will pray, and then we will gather in front of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, to implore the Lord’s blessing upon our homes, our families, and all humanity.”
Finally, Pope Leo XIV concluded by praying that the celebration would be “a radiant sign of our commitment to be, each day starting from the Altar and the Tabernacle, bearers of communion and peace to one another, in sharing and charity.” – Vatican News
