Pope: The Eucharist is a powerful antidote to the forces of division in the world

During an audience in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis on the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. The Eucharist leads to a “dynamic of unity” and teaches us to “adopt the way of life” of Jesus. A meeting with writers to mark the 100th anniversary of the Vatican Publishing House: writing is an “act of truth” and “has to do with God”.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV also acknowledged the intense “heat of recent days” in Rome. At this morning’s general audience, presided over before some 25,000 people, whom the sun had not deterred from gathering in St Peter’s Square.

The Pope greeted them at the start with a long tour in the popemobile. This was immediately before delivering the fourth catechesis dedicated to the conciliar constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. Speaking on the Eucharist, he said: “It offers a powerful antidote to the forces of division that undermine our world, our communities, our families and our hearts”.

The Pope explained that the document presents the Eucharist with “Augustinian overtones”; it is “the path to union with God and to mutual union”. Leo XIV described it as “the sacrament of the Kingdom to come”. “Bread for the journey, which leads us towards our heavenly homeland, until that blessed day when ‘God will be all in all’”. It leads to the “dynamic of unity”, whilst also teaching us to “adopt the way of life of the Lord Jesus himself, characterised by the free gift of self”.

Prevost spoke of two ‘closely linked’ parts of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. For taking part in the Eucharist leads ‘to listening to the Word of God and to being nourished at the Lord’s table’.

Regarding the former, he recalled ‘that it is not merely a matter of acquiring intellectual knowledge of the Scriptures’; as the Word is “living and effective”. In this regard, he emphasised that the Second Vatican Council “called for the treasures of the Bible to be opened up more widely”. In particular, through the Lectionary, the text which brings together all the biblical readings for liturgical celebrations.

Finally, the Pope recalled the reference to Tradition contained in Sacrosanctum Concilium. He quoted the passage mentioning Jesus’ institution of the “Eucharistic sacrifice” at the Last Supper. It is “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet, in which Christ is received, the soul is filled with grace and we are given a pledge of future glory” (no. 47), he stated.

Earlier today, before the audience, Pope Leo XIV received a group of writers in the small hall of the Paul VI Audience Hall to mark the centenary of the Vatican Publishing House, founded in 1926.

Among them were Marilynne Robinson, Jon Fosse, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Elizabeth Strout, Vittorio Lingiardi and Enrico Brizzi. It is a “favourable” occasion for reflection on books and the act of writing, “a form of human expression in which you are, through a variety of styles and languages, masters and models”, the Pope told those present.

“We need you,” he exclaimed. Above all for the “imagination”, “narrative imagination” and “vitality of thought” that are characteristic of these “masters”. So that “spaces of freedom and authenticity” may be created, “within which divine grace can make a promise of consolation and peace resound”. “I thank you for every time you have sown seeds of reconciliation, of encounter and of friendship,” he said.

Writing “is an act of truth, of revelation”. However, “we are never masters of the truth; if anything, it is the truth that ‘conquers’ us. For this reason, I hope you will be able to inspire a love of the truth, because you yourselves are drawn to it,” added Prevost. Writing is also a “gesture of humanity”.

It is capable of activating “the empathetic power of the imagination”, as Pope Francis once remarked. A “great training ground for humanity” that readers can experience. A means of developing “the capacity to identify with the perspective, circumstances and feelings of others”, which opens the way to solidarity, sharing and compassion.

Furthermore, writing “has to do with God”. “When we delve into the depths of our humanity, we are not far from God: it is there, in the midst of very human stories, that God reveals himself. The God of the Bible manifests himself in liberation from slavery, in the now-unhoped-for birth of a son, in merciful and faithful love,” explained Pope Leo.