Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
Looking to the 2016
International Eucharistic Congress
by Vittore Boccardi, SSS
The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic and Christian country in Asia.
The faith planted by missionaries five centuries ago has flourished in the rich soil
of the Filipino people, who have endured foreign domination, political upheaval,
and a peaceful revolution, and emerged strong, resilient, and hopeful. Their faith is
rooted in the Eucharist.
Blessed
Sacrament
Father Vittore
Boccardi is the
secretary of
the Pontifical
Committee on
International
Eucharistic
Congresses. He
lives in Rome.
T
he theme of the
51st International Eucharistic Congress,
to be
celebrated in Cebu in the Philippines from January 24-31, 2016, is
“Christ in You, Our Hope and Glory.” It is derived from 1 Colossians 1:27.
The immediate context is verses 24 to 29:
Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my
own flesh, I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ
for the sake of his body, the church. I became a minister of
this church through the commission God gave me to preach
among you his word in its fullness, that mystery hidden from
ages and generations past, but now revealed to his holy ones.
God has willed to make known to them the glory beyond
price which this mystery brings to the Gentiles, the mystery of
Christ in you, your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim
while we admonish all and teach them in the full measure
of wisdom, hoping to make all complete in Christ. For this I
work and struggle, impelled by that energy of his which is so
powerful a force within me.
The theme was chosen in order to express the nature of the Eucharist
as mystery and mission. For the Philippines and Asia, the Eucharist
is a mystery to be revealed, lived, and proclaimed. In the context of
the “new evangelization” and within the nine-year preparation for
the 500th anniversary of the coming of the Christian faith to the
Philippines in 1521, the theme points to the Eucharist as the mystery
or sacrament of the presence of Christ Jesus and of his saving mystery
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