Mass for the 'Adore 2004' conference

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at the Telstra Dome function room, Melbourne,
on Thursday, 22nd January, 2004, at 5.00pm

Introduction

My dear young Friends,

I am delighted to be with you at this Conference, which provides practical experience of the love of Jesus for us in the Eucharist, from whom we draw life.

Jesus’ own words, “Lo, I am with you always to the close of the age”, (Matthew 28.20) remind us that through the celebration of the Eucharist and adoration of Jesus present in the Sacrament we come to the source of our life in Christ and to its summit. Christ is our Passover and Living Bread and he leads us ever stronger along earth’s journey.

As we call to mind our sins, let us ask that with lively faith we will celebrate the Eucharist and that we will adore the Lord, ever present among us, as food, medicine and comfort.

Homily

My dear young Friends,

Four years ago Pope John Paul celebrated the Eucharist in the upper room at Jerusalem. His words, ’This is my Body. This is my Blood. Do this in memory of me’, were the same uttered by Jesus in the same place two thousand years ago.

Jesus looked forward to the next day when he would go onto the altar of Calvary and offer himself – God and human – to save us from our sins. The Eucharist is always God’s invitation to us, to take hold of what he offers. And at every celebration of the Eucharist we are brought back, as the Pope reminded us from the upper room, to the events of Holy Thursday; the Passion beginning in Gethsemane, into the Kedron Valley, to the Garden of Olives and on to the Cross.

As we say in the Profession of Faith, ‘He was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.’

But the Eucharist is no mere remembering. Jesus is present exactly as he was on these special moments and through the Eucharist he offers his saving work – to forgive us, to draw us to himself, to make us live the new risen life that he offers.

I am filled with admiration that so many young people have come, touched by the love of Jesus. That is why I believe very strongly that the great action of the Eucharist has to be balanced with prayer and intimate personal conversation with the Lord who is present, so that the Lord can influence our heart, our mind, our words, our deeds. Eucharist action must always be accompanied by Eucharist adoration because only then will we be aware of what Our Lord tries to do.

That is why the call to priesthood is so wonderful. Jesus invites all those whom he calls to the priesthood to place their voice and their actions at his disposal.

For four years the Pope has asked us to remember with amazement the great gift of the Eucharist. God coming to be with us in our ordinary, everyday life. To remember, to contemplate the face of Christ, to do it with Mary and to put out into the deep with the enthusiasm of bringing Christ to our brothers and sisters.

To contemplate Christ means that we have to be able to recognise him wherever he is, but above all, in the most powerful way, in the living Sacrament of his Body and Blood. The Pope tells us that the Church draws her life from Christ and the Eucharist. By him she is fed and by him she is enlightened.

The Pope stresses that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. Jesus Christ as Victim died on the Cross and from that total giving came what he offered us in the Eucharist on the night before he died – his Body and Blood – to be with us and nourish us. Jesus gives us himself, not just in the past, but all that he did and suffered is now present with us.

The Eucharist is Jesus Christ given for us and we need to ponder again and again that what Jesus did at the Last Supper and on Calvary is the same thing that happens at Mass and the Mass makes present the sacrifice of the Cross. It does not add to it or multiply it. The Mass is never independent of the Cross because it is a sacrifice. Jesus given for us to show perfect worship of his Father, to be here to guide us.

As the fruit of this great Conference I would like to propose three things.

1. That we realise the Mass is Jesus present and given for us. We prepare for it well, celebrate it prayerfully.
2. When Jesus said, ‘Do this in memory of me’, he calls us to be faithful and persevering in loving and following him in daily life.
3. To continue this journey you and I need to remember prayerfully, reflect upon and speak to Jesus in the Eucharist, so that his words, his action, his presence will influence our lives.

The Eucharist is the point where the saving love of God and our humanity meet face to face, enriched, challenged and supported by God who is always true to his promises and who will never neglect us. May Jesus be in our hearts forever.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.