On the occasion of the solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Archbishop of Valencia, Monsignor Enrique Benavent, has expressed his concern over the progressive distancing of many baptized persons from Sunday Eucharist and has warned of the spiritual consequences this situation entails for the life of faith and for ecclesial communion.
In a pastoral letter published by the Archdiocese of Valencia on the occasion of the celebration of Corpus Christi, Benavent recalls that the Eucharist constitutes the center of Christian life and laments that numerous Catholics have ceased to perceive the need to participate in Sunday Mass.
“Friendship with Christ gradually grows cold”
“One of the most worrying phenomena currently in the life of the Church is the abandonment of Sunday Mass by many of the baptized”
He explains that continued absence from the Eucharistic celebration causes a progressive interior distancing from Christ. “Their friendship with the Lord gradually grows cold until it dies,” he states.
The archbishop adds that this distancing affects not only the personal relationship with God, but also ecclesial belonging. Whoever ceases to participate in the Eucharist ends up feeling like a stranger within the Christian community and progressively loses the bonds that unite them to it.
To explain this reality, Benavent uses a family comparison: just as a person who stops gathering with their own gradually becomes emotionally distant from them, whoever abandons Sunday Mass runs the risk of losing the living relationship with Christ and with the Church.
The Eucharist, source of the Church’s life
The archbishop recalls that the Second Vatican Council placed particular emphasis on the centrality of the Eucharist for Christian life.
“In this sacrament is contained all the spiritual good of the Church: Christ, our Passover,” Benavent recalls, citing the conciliar decree on the ministry and life of priests.
The prelate’s reflection takes place in the context of the solemnity of Corpus Christi, one of the most important celebrations of the liturgical calendar, in which the Church publicly professes its faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
The lesson of the disciples on the road to Emmaus
Benavent finds a particularly eloquent image of Eucharistic life in the Gospel episode of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Those disciples, he explains, discovered the presence of Christ in the breaking of the bread after having asked him to stay with them. The encounter with the Lord transformed their sadness into joy and prompted them to return immediately to Jerusalem to share the news with the other disciples.
For the archbishop, this experience continues to be repeated in every Eucharistic celebration. The desire to remain with the Lord finds its answer in the Mass, where Christ continues to make himself present to nourish the faith of his people.
A procession that proclaims the presence of Christ
The letter concludes with a reflection on the meaning of the Corpus Christi processions, which will be celebrated this Sunday and will pass through the streets of Valencia, and of numerous localities in the diocese.
Finally, Benavent recalls that when the Blessed Sacrament leaves the churches and is accompanied by the faithful, the Church publicly proclaims its faith in Christ and manifests the certainty of walking accompanied by Him.
“In the Eucharistic procession that passes through the streets of our towns and cities, the Church proclaims that nothing makes it lose its peace, because it has the certainty of walking accompanied by Christ”