D. José Cordeiro asked all priests of the Archdiocese of Braga to, on the 2nd of June, suspend the Sunday morning Eucharist in parishes and chaplaincies so that all priests and parishioners can participate in the closing mass of the Congress National Eucharist, at the Sameiro Sanctuary.
“It would be beautiful to have a synodal eucharistic experience”, challenged the primate archbishop, who spoke in the eucharistic homily of the Chrism Mass and Blessing of the Holy Oils, one of the most emblematic religious celebrations of Holy Week in Braga.
In the celebration in which all the clergy of the Archdiocese participated, D. José addressed the homily to the priests and regarding the request he made to them for June 2nd, he apologized for the appeal almost at the last minute. “I am aware that I am asking you something demanding, but I ask this in the name of a greater good: in the name of the Eucharist and everything we want this Congress to produce in our lives”.
If there are no masses on that Sunday, evening masses or Sunday afternoon masses will be held, “in order to ensure that there is no shortage of Eucharistic bread for people with mobility difficulties or busy in their professions”.
Regarding the National Eucharistic Congress, the archbishop recalled that the Eucharist is the source and center of Christian life. “The priest lives from and for the Eucharist: this is the main reason for his mission. And so we ask: can a priest live without a daily Eucharist? I leave it up to everyone to answer this question from within,” he asked, addressing the clergy.
The archbishop said that to know the pastoral and spiritual style of a parish priest, “it is not necessary to ask many questions or observe his works, one thing is enough: notice the way he celebrates the Eucharist”.
In this context, he recalled that the Roman Missal “is a voluminous book, but unfortunately only a few pages can be leafed through”. This was the motto for another challenge left to the priests: “do not be afraid to risk praying other Eucharistic prayers, teaching other eucharistic responses, promoting other planned forms of celebration and ‘giving the bread’ consecrated in the celebration itself”.
“And, from here, I must add one more thing: as the Presbytery of Braga, let us welcome the new calendar specific to the Archdiocese, already approved and published, not letting what identifies us as the Church of Braga in prayer fall into oblivion. The Liturgy is not the property of a few, but a heritage of all. Otherwise it becomes just another theological debate rather than being another source of Eucharistic grace,” he added.
D. José Cordeiro also thanked the priests for the Eucharists they celebrate in all contexts.
“I want to thank you for the Eucharist celebrated in churches full of people, but above all I want to thank you for that Eucharist in which it was just you, the sacristan and one other person in the assembly and without intention or stipend, even so, you did not fail to celebrate that Eucharist. Thank you for not falling into that temptation!”, he stated, remembering that “the great challenge of Christianity in the current post-modernity, as we said in the celebration of last Palm Sunday, is not having ’empty churches’, but having churches permanently closed’. We are not a Church of numbers, but of people”, he concluded.
In this celebration, the Holy Oils were consecrated and then taken by priests to their parishes to be used to anoint the baptized and sick.
