Transcript

To be all together in prolonged silence before the Lord, present in his sacrament, is one of the most genuine experiences of our being a Church. This is accompanied by the celebration of the Eucharist, by listening to the Word of God, by singing, and by approaching the table of the Bread of Life together. Communion and contemplation cannot be separated; they go hand in hand. If I am truly to communicate with another person, I must know him. I must be able to be in silence close to him. To listen to him, and look at him lovingly. In true communion, prepared for by the conversation of prayer and of life, we can address the words of confidence to the Lord. In the words of the psalms, “O Lord, I am your servant.” God our Father did not send his Son into the world to abolish, but to give fulfillment. At the height of this mission, at the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of his Body and his Blood, the memorial of his Paschal sacrifice. By doing so, he replaced ancient sacrifices with himself, but he did so in a rite which he commanded the apostles to perpetuate as a supreme sign of the true Sacred One who is he, himself. With this faith, dear brothers and sisters, let us celebrate the Eucharistic mystery, today and everyday, and adore it as the center of our life and the heart of the world.