Holy Mass in Fortaleza (9 July 1980)

On 9 July 1980, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in Fortaleza. In his homily, the Pope said that the “eucharistic nourishment, making us blood relatives of Christ, makes us brothers and sisters of one another.” 

Your Eminence Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider, Archbishop of Fortaleza,
my dear brothers in the Episcopate, in the priesthood,
dearest sons and daughters.

1. "The sacred banquet in which the bread is Christ, in which his passion is relived by us, our soul is filled with grace, and we are offered a pledge of future glory".

From this moment on and for several days, Fortaleza becomes in a very special way the cenacle where this banquet is celebrated, singing and affirming the faith of the Church in the most holy sacrament.

This celebration reminds us once again that the God of our faith is not a distant being who indifferently contemplates the condition of men, their difficulties, their struggles and their anxieties. He is a Father who loves his children, to the point of sending his Son, his Word, "that they may have life, and have it in abundance" (Jn 10:10 ) .

It is this loving Father who now gently draws us, with the action of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5).

How many times in our lives have we seen two people who love each other part. During the ugly and harsh war, in my youth, I saw young people leave without hope of returning, parents torn from home, without knowing if one day they would find their loved ones. At the moment of leaving, a gesture, a photo, an object that passes from one hand to the other to prolong the presence in the absence in a certain way. And nothing more. Human love is capable only of these symbols.

As a testimony and as a lesson of love, at the moment of parting, "Jesus, knowing that his time had come to pass from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" ( Jn 13 ,1). And so, on the eve of this last passover spent in this world with his friends, Jesus "took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it and said: 'This is my body, which is for you: do this in memory of me". Likewise, after supper, he also took the cup, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me"" ( 1 Cor 11:23-25).

In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man, taking leave of his friends does not leave them a symbol, but the reality of himself. He returns to the Father, but remains among us men. He doesn't leave a simple object to evoke his memory of him. Under the species of bread and wine there is he, really present with his body, his blood, his soul and his divinity. As one of your classic authors said (Br. Antônio das Chagas, Sermoes , 1764, p. 220 - S. Caetano): “From the union of an infinite power with an infinite love, what could have resulted if not the greatest miracle and the greatest wonder?”.

Every time we gather to celebrate, as the Easter Church that we are, the feast of the immolated and revived Lamb, of the risen one present in our midst, it is necessary to keep in mind the meaning of the sacramental encounter and intimacy with Christ (cf. John Paul II, Epistula universos Ecclesiae Episcopos: de SS. Eucharistiae mysterio et cultu , 4, die 24 Feb. 1980: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , III,1 [1980] 585).

2. It is from this conscience, matured in faith, that the deepest and most gratifying answer to the question that guides the reflection of this national Eucharistic Congress flows: "Where are you going?". To what horizons are the efforts with which you painstakingly build your tomorrow headed? What are the goals you hope to achieve through the struggles, work, sacrifices you submit to every day? Yes, towards what does the pilgrim man go on the road of the world and of history?

I am convinced that if we pay attention to the courageous or hesitant, hopeful or painful answers these questions evoke in every person - not only in this country, but also in other regions of the earth - we will be surprised by their substantial identity. The ways of men are, not infrequently, very different from each other; the immediate objectives that are proposed usually have characteristics that are not only divergent, but sometimes even opposite. Yet the ultimate goal towards which everyone without distinction is always the same: everyone seeks full personal happiness, in the context of a true communion of love. If you try to penetrate to the depths of your desires and those of those who pass by you, you will discover that this is everyone's common aspiration, this is the hope that, after failures,

Our heart seeks happiness and wants to experience it in the context of true love. Well, the Christian knows that the authentic satisfaction of this aspiration can be found only in God, in whose image man was created (cf. Gen 1:27). “You made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (St. Augustine, Confessiones , 1,1). When Augustine, returning from a tortuous and useless search for happiness in every kind of pleasure and vanity, wrote these famous words on the first page of his "confessions", he did nothing but express the essential need that emerges from the deepest of our being.

3. It is not a requirement destined to disappointment and frustration: faith assures us that God has come to meet man in the person of Christ, in whom "dwells all the fullness of divinity" (Col 2.9). So if man wants to find satisfaction for his thirst for happiness that burns his heart, it is towards Christ that he must direct his steps. Christ does not stay away from him. Our life here on earth is, in truth, a continuous succession of encounters with Christ: with Christ present in Sacred Scripture, as the word of God; with Christ present in his ministers, as teacher, priest and shepherd; with Christ present in our neighbour, and especially in the poor, the sick, the marginalized, who are his suffering members; with Christ present in the sacraments, which are the channels of his saving action;

Every encounter with Christ leaves profound marks: they can be encounters at night, like that of Nicodemus; casual encounters, such as that of the Samaritan woman; encounters sought, such as that of the repentant sinner; encounters of supplication, such as that of the blind man at the gates of Jericho; meetings out of curiosity, such as that of Zacchaeus; or intimate encounters, such as that of the apostles, called to follow him; dazzling encounters, such as that of Paul on the road to Damascus.

But the most intimate and transforming encounter, to which all the others are ordered, is the encounter "at the table of the Eucharistic mystery, that is, at the table of the Lord's bread" (John Paul II, Epistula ad universos Ecclesiae Episcopos: de SS. Eucharistiae mysterio et cultu , 11, die 24 Feb. 1980: Teachings of John Paul II , III,1 [1980], 601). Here it is Christ himself who welcomes the man, afflicted by the difficulties of the journey, and comforts him with the warmth of his understanding and love for him. It is in the Eucharist that those sweet words find their full realization: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and oppressed, and I will give you rest" ( Mt11.28). We can find that personal and profound comfort which constitutes the ultimate reason for all our toil on the roads of the world - at least as an anticipation and a foretaste - in the divine bread which Christ offers us at the Eucharistic table.

4. A canteen. It was no coincidence that the Lord, wanting to give everything to us, chose the form of the family meal. Gathering around a table says interpersonal relationship and the possibility of mutual knowledge, mutual exchange, dialogue that enriches. The Eucharistic banquet thus becomes an expressive sign of communion, forgiveness and love.

Aren't these the realities that our pilgrim heart feels it needs? Authentic human happiness is unthinkable outside this context of encounter and sincere friendship. Well, the Eucharist not only signifies this reality, but effectively promotes it. In this regard, Saint Paul has an extremely clear phrase: "We - he observes - are one body: in fact we all share in the one bread" ( 1 Cor10.17). The Eucharistic nourishment, making us "blood relatives" of Christ, makes us brothers and sisters among us. St. John Chrysostom summarizes the effects of participation in the Eucharist in these incisive words: “We are that same body. What is bread actually? The body of Christ. In fact, as bread is the result of many grains and, although these remain themselves, yet they are not distinguished because they are united, so we too are mutually united with Christ. We are not nourished by one body or by another different one, but all by the same body” (St. John Chrysostom, In Epistulam 1 ad Corinthios ).

Eucharistic communion therefore constitutes the sign of the reunion of all the faithful. A truly suggestive sign, because at the sacred table all differences of race or social class disappear, leaving only the participation of all in the same sacred food. This participation, identical in all, means and realizes the suppression of all that divides men, and brings everyone together on a higher level, where all opposition is eliminated. Thus the Eucharist becomes the great instrument for bringing people together. Every time the faithful participate with a sincere heart, they receive a new impulse to establish a better relationship between them, which leads to mutual recognition of their rights and also the corresponding duties. This facilitates the satisfaction of the demands of justice,

In this regard, it is instructive to recall what happened among the early Christians, whom the Acts of the Apostles describe to us as "persisting... in the breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42 ). It was said of them that “they lived together and had all things in common; whoever had property and goods sold them and shared them with everyone, according to everyone's need" ( Acts 2:44-45). In doing so, the first Christians spontaneously put into practice "the principle according to which the goods of this world are destined by the Creator to meet the needs of all without exception" (cf. Paul VI, Nuntius christianis totius orbis fidelibus, ineunte tempore quadragesimal , die 7 Feb. 1878: Teachings of Paul VI, XVI [1978] 112). Charity, nourished in the common "breaking of bread", was expressed with a natural consequence in the joy of enjoying together the goods that God had generously made available to all. Fraternal sharing springs from the Eucharist as a fundamental Christian attitude.

5. At this point and in this light, I naturally think of the difficult condition of those who, for various reasons, have to leave their homeland and move to other regions: the emigrants. The question "Where are you going?" in their case it takes on a very realistic dimension: the dimension of malaise and loneliness, often the dimension of incomprehension and rejection.
The picture of human mobility in your country is broad and complex. Large because it involves millions of people of all categories. Complex for the causes it supposes, for the consequences it provokes, for the decisions it demands. The number of those who emigrate within this immense nation reaches, as far as I know, such high levels that those responsible are concerned. A part of the emigrants goes in search of better living conditions, emigrating from areas saturated with population to more uninhabited places; another part goes in search of better climatic conditions which offer, by that very fact, the possibility of easier economic and social progress. And not a few Brazilians cross the border.

But Brazil, like the other countries of the American continent, is a nation that has already given a lot and owes a lot to immigration. I like to remember here the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Poles, the Italians, the Germans, the French, the Dutch and many others who came from Africa, the Middle East and the Far East, practically from the whole world, who found life here and well-being. And even today there are not a few foreigners who ask for work and a home in this ever-generous Brazil. In a complex situation, how can we not think of cultural and sometimes linguistic uprooting, temporary or definitive separation from one's family, the difficulties of insertion and integration of the new environment, the socio-political imbalance, psychological dramas and many other consequences,

The Church of Brazil wanted to combine the celebration of this Eucharistic Congress with the problem of emigration. "Where are you going?". It is a question to which each one must give his own answer, which respects the legitimate aspirations of the others. The Church has never tired and will never tire of proclaiming fundamental human rights: "The right to remain freely in one's own country, to have a homeland, to emigrate within and outside the country, for legitimate reasons, to be able to have a full family life, to count on the goods necessary for life, to preserve and develop one's ethnic, cultural, linguistic heritage, to publicly profess one's religion, to be recognized and treated in accordance with the dignity of one's person in any circumstance" (Pont. Comm.Church and human mobility , 17, 26 May 1978: AAS 70 [1978] 366). For this reason, the Church cannot help but denounce the situations that force many to emigrate, as Puebla does (cf. Puebla , 29 et 71).

However, it is necessary that this denunciation of the Church be confirmed with concrete pastoral action, which engages all its energies. Those of the Churches at the starting points of emigration, with adequate preparation for those who are preparing to leave. And those of the Churches of the points of arrival, which must feel responsible for a good welcome, which must be translated into concrete gestures with the immigrants.

May this fraternity, which finds its highest point in the Eucharist, become an ever more vigorous reality here. Alongside the Indians, the first inhabitants of this land, the emigrants from all parts of the world formed a solid and dynamic people who, united by the Eucharist, were able to face and overcome great difficulties in the past. My wish is that the Christian faith, nourished at the Eucharistic table, continues to be the unifying leaven of the new generations, so that Brazil can always look to its future with serenity and take the path of authentic human progress.

6. At the beginning of this celebration, you sang enthusiastically: "You have brought together in one people / emigrants and people from the northeast, foreigners and natives: / we are all pilgrims".

It is an observation very close to reality. Yes, we are all pilgrims: pursued by the passing of time, wandering the streets of the world, we walk in the shadow of the temporary, in search of that true peace, that sure joy, which our weary hearts need so much. In the Eucharistic banquet, Christ comes to meet us to offer us, under the humble appearances of bread and wine, the pledge of those supreme goods towards which we strive in hope. Let us therefore say to him with renewed faith: "We form your people / who are holy and sinners: Create new hearts in us / transformed by love".

Men with a new heart, a heart transformed by love, this is what Brazil needs to walk confidently towards its future. Here is therefore my prayer and my wish: that this nation may always prosper, spiritually, morally and materially, animated by that fraternal spirit which Christ came to bring into the world. May the differences between regions endowed with particular material well-being and less fortunate regions disappear within it, or be gradually reduced to a minimum. May poverty, moral and spiritual misery, marginalization disappear, and may all citizens recognize and embrace each other as authentic brothers in Christ!

All of this will certainly be possible if a new era of Eucharistic life revives the life of the Church in Brazil. May love and adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament therefore be the brightest sign of your faith, of the faith of the Brazilian people!

O Jesus Eucharist, bless your Church, bless this great nation and grant it tranquil prosperity and authentic peace! Amen!

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