Mass for the Friends of the Caroline Chisholm Library

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Francis’ Church, Melbourne,
on Friday, 8th August, 2003, at 11.00am

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we gather to celebrate the Feast of Blessed Mary MacKillop, the Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, who showed a remarkable dedication to God and to the Church. By her establishment of schools in the city and outback areas she may well be regarded as the great inspiration of Catholic education.

Her suffering, linked to the passion of Christ, illustrates in a powerful way the magnetism of the Eucharist and how the Eucharist and indeed the whole of Christian life can never be separated from the Cross.

As we honour her and join with the Friends of Caroline Chisholm Library in their prayer of thanksgiving, we thank God for her witness in the Church, as we call to mind our sins.

Homily

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have already mentioned the importance of the passion and death of Christ as the basis of the Eucharist and as the foundation of the life of Blessed Mary MacKillop, whom we honour in heaven today.

In this great Eucharistic Centre of Saint Francis I want to talk specifically about the importance of the Eucharist in the terms expressed by Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical, ‘Ecclesia De Eucharistia’, issued on Holy Thursday of this year.

Today’s Mass speaks of people drawn to listen to Jesus. The crowd who followed him had been so enthralled by Jesus’ words that seemingly forgetful of their material needs they had followed him for a long, long time. Similarly, Elijah was exhausted and God fed him.

Today we are invited to see the goodness of the Lord. Jesus himself speaks of the wonder of the personal invitation given to each of us when he says, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus also draws a contrast between earthly food and his own identity as the Bread of Life.

With the approach of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his Pontificate, Pope John Paul has written to us of the importance of the Eucharist. From Holy Thursday this year the Pope has wished to point out with new force to the Church the centrality of the Eucharist.

He says, “From the Eucharist the Church draws her life. From this living bread she draws her nourishment.” The Pope then recalls the many places throughout the world where he has celebrated the Eucharist - the great basilicas, chapels on mountains, lake shores and sea coasts, city squares and stadiums - he reminds us that whenever the Eucharist is celebrated it is always on the altar of the world because it unites heaven and earth.

The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation in one supreme act of praise to the one who made it from nothing. The Pope says that Jesus, the Eternal High Priest, by the blood of his cross entered the eternal sanctuary and gives back to the Creator and Father all redeemed creation. He does so by the priestly ministry of the Church for the glory of the Trinity.

So we can say that what we do today is Christ’s saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food and most precious possession.

I believe it is vital that we reflect upon our sharing in the Eucharist. Our conscious, active and prayerful participation helps us to focus on how important is the Mass where the priest acts in the person of Jesus Christ. We, his priestly people, united with him offer the Mass and our prayers and gifts are united by the priest with the perfect sacrifice of Christ given to the Father to save the world. It is truly a prayerful and active celebration.

Linked with it and helping us to appreciate it must always be an appropriate reflection. Action and contemplation are always linked in the life of the Church. I wish to emphasise the importance not only of the Eucharistic celebration, but of an attitude of prayer and reverence in the Church and to underline the paramount importance also of Eucharistic adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. This balance of action and adoration helps us to personalise what we reflect upon in the Word of God and in the prayers of the Mass and to apply it to our lives so that we derive fruit and strength.

Saint John Vianney spoke of the soul and Jesus as united by the love of God like two pieces of wax which become one. Truly it can be said that we need to stop and ponder the great jewel which exists in the Eucharist. To do this we need adoration because Jesus present on the altar at the words, ‘This is my Body. This is my Blood’, is our God. He died and rose to save us. He is present with us and it is him whom we receive in Holy Communion.

We reach out to touch the great reality of God’s saving care for us, which is at the centre of all that we do in the Church. From the Eucharist and from our contemplation, like rays, reach out the other works of Sacraments, teaching, gathering people, the social work we do for the poor, the witness that we carry into our workplace and into our home, as we go strengthened by Christ and living in union with him.

In the Encyclical (No. 18), the Holy Father says, “In the Eucharist everything speaks of confident waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life; they already possess it on earth as the first fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. In the Eucharist we receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection, ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.’

Saint Ignatius of Antioch defined the Eucharist as, “A medicine of immortality, an antidote to death.” It is vital therefore that as we celebrate the Eucharist and then go forth into the world of work and relaxation we realise that here we have a direct and powerful contact with God, which nourishes us and carries us forward to eternal life. Through celebration of the Eucharist and adoration, may we be drawn to an awareness of the God who loves us and saves us and who designs that we will come to eternal peace with a love and a care that goes beyond our imagining.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.