The Easter Season leaves us, but not the Joy of the Resurrection. Easter is a permanent reality in our Church, since the Paschal Mystery is renewed and made present in every Eucharistic celebration.
Newsroom (06/06/2025 09:30, Gaudium Press) The Easter season comes to a close, but not the joy of the Resurrection. In reality, Easter is a permanent reality in our Church, since the Paschal Mystery is renewed and made present in every Eucharistic celebration. The outlook of Catholics would be entirely different if they fully embraced this truth of the faith.
Last May, an event drew the attention of the entire world to a modest chimney installed on the rooftops of the Vatican palaces. At a certain moment, as white smoke was seen billowing out, Romans and pilgrims rushed to St. Peter’s Square and were able to witness, with surprise and delight, the appearance of the new Supreme Pontiff: Pope Leo XIV, who solemnly imparted the urbi et orbi apostolic blessing.
A dispatch by the Brazilian edition of Gaudium Press on May 6—two days before the election—had already predicted:
“In the conclave, Prevost may emerge as the consensus candidate. He probably won’t be the first choice of any group, but he may be everyone’s second option, which makes him a very viable alternative—similar to what happened with Joseph Ratzinger in 2005 and Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 2013. More progressive cardinals may see him as someone who would preserve the synodal spirit of Francis without the Argentine’s excesses. More conservative cardinals wouldn’t oppose him due to his doctrinal orthodoxy and legal expertise. Latin Americans would recognize him as one of their own, Africans would appreciate his firmness, and Europeans would respect his balance.”
For his part, Cardinal Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, said in the Missa Pro Eligendo Pontifice: “May the Pope be elected whom the Church and humanity need in this difficult and complex time in history.”
All indications are that things unfolded just as they were meant to—praise be to God!
Pope Leo XIV is a member of the Order of St. Augustine, a religious order founded in the Middle Ages based on the monastic experience of St. Augustine—the “Eagle of Hippo”—and his Rule from the fourth century.
When we speak of St. Augustine, we speak of greatness. He was the most prominent Christian thinker of the first millennium and one of the greatest intellectuals in human history. Known as the “Doctor of Grace,” his writings are numerous, and his erudition, vast. One of his profound teachings is his explanation of the “Whole Christ” (Christus Totus)—that is, the Catholic Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, with the Lord as the Head and the baptized as the members. Pope Pius XII affirmed this concept in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi:
“The ancient and constant tradition of the Fathers teaches that the Divine Redeemer forms one single Mystical Person with His social body, or as St. Augustine says, the whole Christ.”
It is helpful to reflect on two paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that deal with the Church’s Eucharistic life. These catechetical points are supported by the writings of the great St. Augustine:
Paragraph 1396: The unity of the Mystical Body
“The Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it, Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body—the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. We are called by Baptism to form but one body (cf. 1 Cor 12:13). The Eucharist fulfills this call:
‘The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread’ (1 Cor 10:16–17).”
St. Augustine comments: “If you yourselves are Christ’s Body and members, it is your mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table; you receive your own mystery. To that which you are, you respond ‘Amen’; and by responding, you assent. For you hear, ‘The Body of Christ,’ and you answer, ‘Amen.’ Be then a member of Christ’s Body, so that your ‘Amen’ may be true.” (Sermo 272)
How can one make sense of the incongruent claim heard so often today: “I’m Catholic, but I don’t practice”?
Paragraph 1398: The Eucharist and the Unity of Christians “Before the greatness of this mystery, St. Augustine exclaims: O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity! The more painful the Church’s divisions that break the common participation at the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our prayers to the Lord that the day of full unity among all who believe in Him may return.”
By “divisions that break the common participation at the table of the Lord,” the Church refers to heresies and schisms which, because they do not profess the Eucharistic mystery as the Church teaches it, make it impossible for Catholic clergy to celebrate or concelebrate the Eucharist with clergy from Christian denominations separated from Rome.
Indeed, there have been rare and improper instances where non-Catholic ministers have appeared at the altar during Mass alongside Catholic priests—ministers who do not believe in the Holy Sacrifice. Also included in these “divisions” are Masses celebrated without proper reverence, violating liturgical rubrics and norms—Masses that neither glorify God nor edify the faithful.
As we conclude this reflection, we note how naturally the august figure of Pope Leo XIV leads us to the “Eagle of Hippo,” and from there, like the majestic bird that gazes upon the sun, to the Eucharistic Sun.
By Fr. Rafael Ibarguren, EP
(Originally published at www.opera-eucharitica.org)
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
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