St Odo can teach us how to resist vice, says Pontiff

BY CAROL GLATZ IN ROME
IN A WORLD of vice and sin people need to radically change their lives, becoming more humble and less materialistic, Pope Benedict XVI has said.
“May we be able to find the source of joy that comes from God’s goodness” and say “no” to the vices of the world, he said at his weekly general audience.
The Pope, resuming a series of audience talks about influential Christian writers from the Middle Ages, focused his catechesis on St Odo, a 10thcentury Benedictine monk and abbot of Cluny, France.
St Odo urged his monks and the faithful to face “the enormity of vices widespread throughout society” by undergoing “a radical change in life based on humility, austerity and detachment from ephemeral things and participation with the eternal”, said the Pope.
The saint refused to become pessimistic or sink into despair even when there was so much sin and evil in the world, the Pope said, because he knew “divine mercy is always available” for those who yearn for conversion.
The merciful God “persecutes sins and yet he protects the sinner”, the Pope quoted St Odo as saying.
He said the saint was also extremely devoted to the Eucharist and emphasised the real and substantial presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine. St Odo deplored the “widespread neglect” of this sacred mystery, which was poorly observed at the time and lacking in the celebration of Mass, he said.
St Odo worked to reform the clergy on this matter and stressed the need for being worthy when receiving the Eucharist, the Pope said. He warned priests against coming to the altar in a state of sin lest they “stain the bread, that is, the body of Christ”, the Pope said, citing the saint’s words.
St Odo insisted that “only he who is spiritually united to Christ can worthily participate” in the Eucharistic celebration, said the Pope.
If those who have distanced themselves from Christ “eat his body and drink his blood, it would not be beneficial, but condemnable”, he said.
The saint taught that the salvation of the world depends on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
The Pope underlined the importance of embracing this truth “with renewed strength” because the presence of God, the creator, among humanity “transforms us, and just as he transformed bread and wine, he transforms the world”.
The Pope flew to the Vatican by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to lead the general audience in the Paul VI Hall before about 8,000 pilgrims from around the world.
Pope Benedict looked relaxed and well-rested, though his right hand and wrist were notably swollen. He continued to greet visitors and well-wishers with his left hand, and had a friendly laugh greeting a priest whose left arm and hand were immobilised by a cast and sling.