Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2001 > Article	Printable Version

Corpus Christi

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
17 June 2001

Celebration of the Eucharist, participating at Mass, is the central activity of the Christian tradition. Some allege that it doesn't matter whether one worships regularly at Sunday Mass, as long as we are leading good lives. That is not the Christian tradition; certainly not Catholic teaching. Following Christ requires regular prayer and worship, which helps us lead good lives.

We are part of an ancient tradition, which goes back to Holy Thursday, the night before Jesus died, and was spread by the apostles. It is a long and venerable tradition, because we Catholics are believers who treasure our memories, these precious truths to be handed onto the coming generations. We love our traditions. Outsiders often envy us this and we should not be embarrassed to explain and defend them.

There are oddities in our Eucharistic tradition. Most Saints are remembered on the day of their death. The more usual celebration is on a birthday. It's not surprising that Christmas is a more popular feast than Easter.

In the Mass, following St Paul's words (probably the earliest surviving Christian evidence), we are celebrating the death of the Lord until He comes again. The eating and drinking proclaim the serving death of Jesus, Our Lord.

We use the beautiful symbols of bread and wine, ancient means of offering hospitality and deepening community and friendship, much more than simple physical nourishment. They were used at the beginning of the monotheist story when Melchizedek, king and priest, emerged suddenly from obscurity to bless Abraham our Father in faith, with bread and wine.

However, in the Mass, only the appearances of bread and wine remain, they are changed by the words of the priest into the Body and Blood of Christ. Custom has taken the strangeness of this from us, we are used to it. One non-believer said that if Catholics really believed their claims about the Real Presence, they would crawl to Communion on their knees.

We eat the Body of the Lord and drink his blood. Many of our Lord's followers left him when he first announced this teaching, so that He asked the apostles if they were going also. People knew and appreciated the feeding miracles; thousands fed from five loaves and two fish. They wanted more of such occasions.

But Jesus was urging them, like us, onto a higher plane.

Offering Communion is not like offering a visitor a cup of tea, it is not just an offer of hospitality. It's a solemn act of worship, a holy sacred action to be performed and received with reverence and the proper disposition.

We need to be baptized a member of the Catholic Church, to believe in Christ's presence in the Eucharist and be in a state of friendship with God - in a state of grace as we used to say - without deep hate or sin in our souls. None of these requirements are to be put aside.

It's a scandal when those who are not regular worshippers at all come to Communion on those special and rare occasions they come to Mass. I know they generally mean well, and intend to show their love and loyalty – but they don't meet the criteria of the Church, first spelt out by St Paul.

There is some pressure, and not only from the secular world, against the vertical dimension of faith, against the eucharistic and godly reality we come before at Mass. Here the ancient devotion of prayer before the Eucharist is proving a great help. Silent worship and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is a wonderful Catholic tradition and it is starting to spread again.

I thank all those responsible for organizing exposition of the Blessed Sacrament here at the Cathedral on this special day, and I hope that many worshippers will spend some time with the Lord during the afternoon.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen