CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
ROMA
My dear Sisters,
I am struck over and over again by our daily reality: how fortunate, how blessed we are to be able to join in the celebration of the Eucharist each day – and in some places – even without stepping outside the door while in other places people travel distances, often walking for hours!
In our reflection for Holy Thursday we entered into the celebration of the Last Supper and meditated on the total offering of Jesus: “No one thinks of how much blood it cost”. While every Mass is a participation in and a celebration of this sacrifice, the feast of Corpus Christi is a liturgical solemnity which gives us the opportunity to celebrate the reality of the Body and blood of Jesus Christ Son of God in the Eucharist – a time to ponder with joy and gratitude. The Eucharist is in essence a ‘thanksgiving’. During the Liturgy of the Mass, there is an exchange between God and ourselves. We thank God for the gifts we are able to offer – the elements of bread and wine – to be consecrated. It is the God of all creation, who gives us the “fruit of the earth” and “fruit of the vine”, so that we in turn, offer him ‘the work of human hands’! When these gifts are lifted up, we too lift up our hearts to God in thanksgiving, remembering that it is ‘right and just’. After the consecration, we give thanks for the ‘mystery of faith’, the presence of Jesus in the consecrated host: “This is my body, which is given up for you,” (Luke 22:19) and ‘we offer you, Father, in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice’.
Partaking in the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, transforms us, and we become ‘one body, one spirit in Christ’ – living members of the church, becoming Eucharist to one another. What a wonderful exchange! In truth, “The focal point of our day is the celebration of the Eucharist in which we offer our lives in union with the sacrifice of Christ and are united in an unspeakable intimacy with him and with one another when we receive his most holy Body”. (Const 93) While we worship the God of all creation and the indwelling of his Spirit within each person, let us also treasure our time of Adoration and daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament, including the prayer of the ‘Paters’, (particularly at this time, for our troubled world), “according to the intentions of universal charity indicated by Fr Founder”, (Dir 98.1). He “from his youth, when he worshiped the Blessed Sacrament on the threshold of the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, believed with great devotion in the real presence of the Body of Christ under the Eucharistic species. … This faith of Antonio Rosmini in the Blessed Sacrament made him sure of the presence of Christ in his Church until the end of time. He trusted in the word of Christ, who said, “Do not be afraid, little flock” (Lk 12:32) … “Behold, I am with you all days to the end of the world.” (Mt 28,20) (Francesco Paoli, Antonio Rosmini: Virtu quotidiane pp 26 e 28)
“Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more, See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.” (St Thomas Aquinas) Happy Feast of Corpus Christi !! With love, c.m. ……………………………..
We thank God for and rejoice with the Junior Sisters, Sr Felista Ng’eleshi (in the District of East Africa) and Sr Ilaria Mazzotta (in Italy) who will make their Perpetual Profession respectively on 1 July in Muheza and on 5 November in Milano.
I ask you to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the forthcoming Meeting of the members of the Generalitial Leadership Team in Borgomanero from 12-19 July.
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