“Eucharist and the transformation of the world”: Bishop Andrew Cozzens
In the first presentation of the third day of the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, Monsignor Andrew Cozzens, Bishop of Crookston, USA, developed the theme “The Eucharist and the transformation of the world”. In his speech, he stressed that the paschal mystery of Christ that is celebrated in each Eucharist is the path of the rebirth of fraternity in the midst of a wounded world.
He added that we are all called to transfigure our open wounds and the wounds of the world into the mystery of the passion and glory of Jesus, the Son of God. The Gospel passage of the Transfiguration of the Lord announces us that every human suffering can be transfigured into the glorious light of Christ.
The response of God, the Father, to the wounded world is sending his Son, Jesus, to the world. He is the Word and the definitive gesture of God’s salvation for human suffering.
He explained that Christ is the Good News of the Kingdom of God for a wounded world, because He has opened to us the theological and salvific dynamic of the Easter Triduum: the giving of the Body and Blood of Christ at the Last Supper, the obedient sacrifice of the Son on the altar of the Cross, and the glorious resurrection of the Lord. He added that Christ’s surrendered and crucified life on the Cross would be meaningless without the hope of resurrection.
We Christians celebrate the paschal mystery of Christ in the Eucharist because our life and our sufferings are transfigured by the light of the glory of the Son of God, who died and rose again.
In the Eucharist, open wounds are transfigured into stained glass windows of light and life. Wounds are healed by the infinite love of Christ when they no longer ooze hatred, resentment, or death. He said that a healed wound becomes an inexhaustible source of forgiveness and salvation.
Finally, he pointed out that in each Eucharistic celebration the offertory of bread and wine are offered and the pains and sufferings of the whole world, and they are also offered to be transfigured in the glorious light of the Word of God, who has conquered darkness.
Fraternity in life and fraternal pastoral care
In the second part of the morning, two testimonies of fraternity were heard. They brought to life and to practice of a fraternal pastoral care that changes and heals the world.
María de Lourdes Amador, a Salesian lady, told how the example of her parents has marked her life and has moved her to embrace the vocation of a Salesian servant. She told how her parents taught her to share, not only toys, but also their time and her life with a well-run marriage. They also taught her the beauty and importance of a Christian marriage. All this has now been reflected in her service in favor of a more united and fraternal world, in unity and communion.
In her speech she defined her service as the best gift she could receive: the opportunity to give herself, to give herself and to make visible God who loves us. She said that the most valuable thing about this ministry is to share with those in need, to share the Gospel, life and word; thus, be true sowers of hope in this Salesian family.
Meanwhile, Father José Antonio Maeso shared his experience of working in Esmeraldas with people deprived of liberty and people extorted, who live with the military and police. That reality invites us to say things as they are: that in this war there is no collateral damage, we are all victims of this war. With images and figures of dead on both sides of this war, it shows us how we are all on the same side, and the enemy is war and violence because we are all persons, brothers; we are no longer deprived of liberty nor military.
For Father José Antonio, the Eucharist should lead us to recognize ourselves as responsible for the conflict, and as such, to roll up our sleeves to work and resolve it. He pointed out that the Word, not weapons, has freed prisons.
He presented the cry of the victims of this war: Stop the war, let’s look at each other in the eye, as equals. He stressed that violence fought with violence only generates hatred, and that does not allow us to see ourselves as what we really are: brothers.
