As you know, His Eminence, Robert Cardinal Sarah was due to celebrate Mass with us today, on our Titular Feast of Corpus Christi. Unfortunately, the lockdown has prevented this from taking place. However, His Eminence has sent a letter to us all, in which he reminds us that the Church draws its life from the Eucharist. Please pray for Cardinal Sarah.
Dear Father Robinson,
I warmly greet you and all those who would usually come to worship and pray at Corpus Christi Shrine on this solemn feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord.
I am very sorry that due to the Covid-19 pandemic I am not able to be with you this year. I had very much looked forward to visiting the beautifully restored church, celebrating the Mass and joining in the Eucharistic procession. God willing there will be another occasion when I can celebrate the Mystery of Faith with you.
In his last Encyclical letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us that “the Church draws her life from the Eucharist” (n.1). At this time, more than ever, we need to be reminded of this truth lest the very life of the Church begin to wither. My prayer is that when public worship resumes, Corpus Christi Shrine will ever be more a place where the faithful can “approach the table of this wondrous Sacrament, so that, bathed in the sweetness of God’s grace, they may pass over to the heavenly realities there foreshadowed” (cf. Preface for the Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ).
May almighty God bless you all and may the shrine’s apostolate bear much fruit in lives transformed and made holy by participation in the divine life given to us in this wondrous sacrament of the Eucharist.
With my prayers and good wishes
Sincerely in the Lord,
Robert Cardinal Sarah
Prefect
