Pope at Angelus: ‘Eucharist burns away selfish attitudes’

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis at the Sunday Angelus said the feast of Corpus Christi is “a mystery of being drawn to Christ and transformed in Him.”

“By nourishing ourselves with the Body and Blood of Christ,” he said, “we are assimilated to Him, and we receive His love, not to guard it jealously, but rather to share it with others.”

Transformed in Christ

The Pope said receiving God’s love impels us to make His plan present in the world.

Jesus’ presence, the Pope said, “burns our selfish attitudes like fire” and “ignites the desire to make us, in union with Jesus, bread broken and blood poured out for our brothers and sisters.”

He said the feast of Corpus Christi is “a lesson in concrete love, which is patient and sacrificial, just like Jesus on the Cross.”

We become more welcoming, the Holy Father said, to those who are marginalized and alone.

“Jesus’ living presence in the Eucharist is like a door that is open between the temple and the road, between faith and history, between the city of God and the city of man.”

Eucharistic processions

Pope Francis also mentioned the many Eucharistic processions that traditionally take place on Corpus Christi Sunday.

“They are an eloquent sign of the fact that Jesus, who died and rose, continues to walk the paths of this world and that he joins us and guides our path,” he said.

The Holy Father said he would lead celebrate Mass and lead procession in the Roman suburb of Ostia later in the day, “as Blessed Pope Paul VI did 50 years ago”.