Vatican’s doctrinal office expected to release document on gender theory

Vatican City, Mar 21, 2018 / 04:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Francis said our participation in the Holy Eucharist at Mass is not a merely spiritual communion, but a sacramental one, uniting us to Christ and his Church.

“The celebration of the Mass… is ordered to sacramental Communion. It is not a spiritual communion. No, [it is] a sacramental communion,” he said March 21.

“While it unites us to Christ, tearing us from our selfishness, Communion opens and unites us to all those who are one in Him. Here is the wonder of Communion: we become what we receive!”

Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the Mass by outlining and explaining the second part of the Communion Rite in light of the passage from the Gospel of John where Jesus says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

When we receive Holy Communion, we must let ourselves be changed, he said, because as St. Augustine said, “every time we approach the Eucharist, we are transformed into Jesus.”

“As bread and wine are converted into the Body and Blood of the Lord, so those who receive them with faith are transformed into a living Eucharist,” Francis continued, explaining the parts of the Mass.

After the Sign of Peace, the priest holds up the consecrated host and says: “Blessed are the guests at the Lord’s Supper: here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

These words are inspired by a passage from the Book of Revelation: “Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb,” he said.

“This invitation calls us to experience the intimate union with Christ, source of joy and holiness. It is an invitation that rejoices and at the same time leads to an examination of conscience illuminated by faith.”

“If on the one hand, in fact, we see the distance that separates us from the holiness of Christ, on the other we believe that his Blood is ‘shed for the remission of sins.’”

As an aside, Francis reminded Christians that they have already been pardoned through the grace bestowed at their baptism and are forgiven again every time they approach the Sacrament of Penance, because “Jesus forgives us always,” he said.

Repeating a favorite phrase, he emphasized that “Jesus does not tire of forgiving us, it is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.”

The Pope also quoted St. Ambrose, who, thinking of the salvific power of the blood of Christ, said: “I who always sin, must always have the remedy.”

With the same faith, Francis said, we also turn our gaze to the Lamb of God, praying to him with the words: “O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

This is the point in the Mass where we go up to receive the Eucharist, which is “a meeting with Jesus,” he said.  

He also explained that though the entirety of Christ is present under each of the two species of the Eucharist, both Body and Blood, the Church believes that the “Eucharistic banquet is expressed with greater fullness if Holy Communion is made under the two species.”

He also noted Church teaching that the faithful may receive communion either “standing up with devotion, or kneeling,” as determined by the local bishops’ conference, and that the faithful receive “the sacrament in the mouth or, where it is allowed, on the hand, as preferred.”

After receiving the Eucharist, to help acknowledge the gift, the Pope recommended spending time in silent prayer, or the singing of a psalm or hymn of praise.

The Eucharistic Liturgy concludes with the prayer after communion, where the priest “turns to God to thank him for making us his guests and to ask that what has been received transforms our life.”

He noted the significance of the final prayer for the Mass of the day, Wednesday of the fifth week of Lent: “We ask the Lord that ‘participation in his sacrament should be for us the medicine of salvation, heal us from evil and confirm us in his friendship.’”

[…]

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is moved as he recalls his grandfather at a Vatican press conference, June 15, 2021. / Screenshot from Vatican News YouTube channel.

Vatican City, Jun 15, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle choked up T… […]

The Holy Father’s Dec. 2, 2024, letter to Catholics in Nicaragua comes at a critical time for the country. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has written a moving letter to Catholics in Nicaragua to express his closeness, affection, and incessant prayer to the Virgin, imploring her consolation in the midst of the persecution of the faith that the country is suffering under the regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.

In the context of the novena prior to the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father wrote a Dec. 2 pastoral letter to the “beloved Church in Nicaragua.” 

The pontiff professed the affection he has for the Nicaraguan people, distinguished by their “extraordinary love for God,” whom they affectionately call “Papachú.”

“I am with you,” the Holy Father assured, encouraging the faithful to trust in Providence, “the only sure guide,” especially in the most difficult moments, when humanly “it becomes impossible to understand what God wants of us.” In these circumstances, he reminded, “we are called not to doubt his care and mercy.”

Pope Francis emphasized that trust in God and fidelity to the Church are “two great beacons” that illuminate their lives. “Be assured that faith and hope work miracles,” he said.

He also invited them to turn their gaze to the Immaculate Virgin, referring to the title of his letter: “Who causes so much joy? The Conception of Mary!” This popular expression marks the celebration of “La Gritería,” a Nicaraguan tradition that fills churches every Dec. 7 in honor of the Mother of God.

The pontiff expressed his hope that this celebration will be a source of encouragement “in difficulties, uncertainties, and deprivations” and urged the faithful to abandon themselves into the arms of Jesus with the prayer “God first.”

“I want to really emphasize that the Mother of God unceasingly intercedes for you, and we continually ask Jesus to always hold you by his hand,” the Holy Father added.

He also encouraged the faithful to pray the “powerful prayer” of the rosary, where the mysteries “make their way through the intimacy of our hearts, where the freedom of the daughters and sons of God finds shelter, which no one can take away from us.”

Finally, he entrusted the people of Nicaragua to the protection of the Immaculate Conception and concluded with “that simple cry expressed with profound trust: ‘Mary belongs to Nicaragua, Nicaragua belongs to Mary.’ So be it!”

Persecution of the Church in Nicaragua

The Holy Father’s letter comes at a critical time for Nicaragua, shortly after the National Assembly approved a constitutional reform proposed by the dictatorship by which Ortega and Murillo will henceforth be “co-presidents” and will officially have total control of the government.

Among the most controversial measures is a provision that requires that “religious organizations must remain free of all foreign control.”

For years, the Ortega regime has intensified a systematic persecution against all expressions of faith in the country. Lay faithful, priests, and bishops are constantly monitored, persecuted, abducted, and even imprisoned in deplorable conditions.

Numerous members of the clergy have been deported from the country and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship, leaving them stateless, as is the case of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January along with another bishop, 15 priests, and two seminarians.

Under the socialist regime, Catholics have been silenced and public expressions of faith, such as prayers for the persecuted or pastoral and spiritual activities, are strictly prohibited.

From 2018 to 2024, 870 attacks against the Catholic Church have been recorded in Nicaragua, according to the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”, which documents how serious the crisis is.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

[…]