That receiving the Eucharist leads us to be like Christ and does not become “just a theater,” was the call made yesterday by the Apostolic Nuncio in Ecuador, Mons. Andrés Carrascosa, during the inaugural Mass of the Theological Symposium, the previous event to the celebration of the Quito 2024 International Eucharistic Congress.
Accompanied by bishops and priests, the Vatican representative presided over the Eucharist in the María Auxiliadora parish, located near the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE), where the symposium is taking place until September 7 with the theme Fraternity to heal the world.
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In his homily, Bishop Carrascosa reflected on the celebration of the Eucharist and in that sense warned of the risk of falling into “a cult empty of content that is not pleasing to God”, in which people can end up practicing a double life, in which faith is not supported by testimony.
To explain it, the nuncio recalled that “in the Eucharist we celebrate that the Lord gave his life for each of us and transforms us into himself.”
“That means that we become what we receive,” he said. Bishop Carrascosa, and added that “the Eucharist not only produces the transformation of each person who receives it in Christ, but as a true sacrament of unity it also produces brotherhood among men, communion among the brothers of Jesus.”
“No element of our faith has as much to do with peace, with unity, with fraternity, as the Eucharist,” he stated.
However, he explained that “for the effects caused by the Eucharist to remain in us, this conversion is necessary, and it is logical: if the Eucharist transforms us into Christ, who do we become? Another Christ, and then how should we behave? It is evident: like Christ himself.”
“And one discovers that one must change one’s way of thinking about everything that does not correspond to the way of thinking of Jesus; otherwise, what does the Eucharist mean? It’s just a theater,” he warned.
The Vatican representative recalled that society “is particularly sensitive to actions and not words, because the world is tired of words” and needs witnesses of the Lord.
“If we live our faith coherently and allow the typical effects of the Eucharist to occur in our lives, we will make Christ live and become particularly present, through us, in the midst of society.”
About the Theological Symposium
The Theological Symposium Fraternity to heal the world It is the prelude to the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress Quito 2024 (IEC2024) that will take place from September 8 to 15.
From its website, it is indicated that the purpose of the symposium is to “reflect on the intrinsic relationship that exists between the Eucharist and Fraternity in the context of a wounded world,” and to provide “a theological contribution that allows the development of Eucharistic Theology in its theoretical wealth and in its demanding commitment to building a universal brotherhood.”
500 people have come to the university interested in hearing from experts such as the Archbishop of Sydney (Australia), Bishop Anthony Fisher, who will speak about the Synodal Church: a store for everyone; or Father Pablo Blanco, from the University of Navarra (Spain), who will speak about the Eucharist: source and summit of fraternity.
As part of the first day, a reflection on Fraternity from different perspectives in Ecuador was carried out, as well as the inauguration of the exhibition Sacred Heart of Jesus, center of spirituality.
The presentations can be followed live through the channel YouTube del IEC2024.
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Prensa I have been sent to cover Pope Francis’ trips to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synodality Synod in the Vatican in 2023.