Pray before the Blessed Sacrament, says Cardinal

BY MARK GREAVES
CARDINAL Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has encouraged churchgoers to spend more time praying before the Blessed Sacrament, which he said "prolongs and intensifiesthe celebration of Mass.
In a pastoral letter read out at Masses in the Diocese of Westminster last Sunday, the Cardinal said that the act of adoration was "a natural consequenceof the Mass, which was itself the "supreme act of adoration".
He added that children "should be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesuseven if they had not yet made their First Holy Communion.
In his letter, brought out to mark the feast of Corpus Christi, the Cardinal referred twice to Sacramentum Caritatis, the Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist that Benedict XVI issued in March.
The Cardinal said that the feast of Corpus Christi celebrated for the first time in England and Wales on Sunday rather than on a Thursday helped people to understand the Pope's words on the Eucharistic mystery.
He quoted the Exhortation, saying: "The Holy Eucharist is a mystery that needs to be firmly believed, devoutly celebrated and intensely lived in the Church."
The Cardinal explained that the celebration of the Eucharist "enables us to draw near to God's love and to persevere in that love until we are united with the Lord whom we love".
The Cardinal also reminded Catholics that they should not receive Holy Communion without regular Confession. "All of us need to cultivate a sense of awe before the Lord's presence in the Eucharist, and to receive Him worthily and with a clear conscience." he said.
"Regular celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation Confession should be a natural part of our desire to receive the Holy Eucharist."
The feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated on Sunday rather than Thursday after the bishops' controversial decision last year to drop three Holy Days of Obligation, including Epiphany and Ascension.
Although many parts of the Catholic world observe Corpus Christi on Sunday, in Italy the tradition remains unchanged, and on Thursday evening thousands gathered in Rome for a procession led by the Pope.
Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on the plaza in front of the basilica of St John Lateran before leading a procession across the city to the basilica of St Mary Major.
In his homily the Pontiff said that the Eucharist was "indispensable nourishment" which sustains Catholics "as they cross the desert of this world, made barren by ideological and economic systems that fail to promote life... a world dominated by the logic of power and possession rather than by the logic of service and of love; a world in which the culture of violence and death often triumph".
Benedict XVI said that the Eucharistic mystery was "beyond our understanding, and we should not be surprised if even today many people struggle" with the Catholic dogma.
"A God who becomes flesh and sacrifices himself for the life of the world puts human wisdom in crisis," he said.
Nevertheless, the Pontiff explained, the feast of Corpus Christi bears witness to the central event of Christian history, as the gift of the Eucharist "is openly proclaimed and exposed, so that everyone has the chance to meet Jesus as He passes by".
He said the procession would "symbolically carry the Lord Jesus along the streets and through the neighbourhoods of Rome".
A recording of Cardinal MurphyO'Connor reading aloud his letter can be downloaded from the diocese of Westminster's website.
The website's expanding "multimedia" section also features video messages for primary and secondary school pupils in which the Cardinal calls on young people to remain faithful to Catholic values.