The 17th Eucharistic Congress, which ended Sunday is a landmark of a new era of hope for Amazon and Brazil, says Cardinal
André Cunha
The newsroom
The Archbishop of Aparecida (SP), Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno, presided over the Mass Sunday Morning, August 21, the last day of the 17th National Eucharistic Congress, held in Belém in the Brazilian state of Pará.
Cardinal Damasceno stressed the challenges of announcement of Jesus Christ in these times, faced with “opposing forces” to the Gospel. Many Christians, he said, suffer because of persecution based on religious intolerance, more than in the first Christian era.
The cardinal also condemned the “materialistic society” which suffers a crisis of hope and emptiness.However, he said that the problems of mankind should encourage Christians to build a new era, to be merciful, believing that the Eucharist awakens in man the meaning of life.
Marian feast
The day the church celebrates the solemnity of the assumption of Mary, in Bethlehem, the mother of Jesus is revered with the title of our Lady of Nazareth. “Several names that say the same person, who was the chosen of the father to express the immensity of God’s love for humanity,” explained Cardinal Damasceno.
“To celebrate assumption of our Lady we want to enroll in the school of Mary. As stated in the Encyclical Ecclesia Eucharistiathe Church joins entirely to Christ in his sacrifice with the same spirit of Mary. This truth can be found in a thorough re-reading the Magnificent, in an Eucharistic perspective. In fact, as the song of Mary, the Eucharist is praise, it’s alsoThanksgiving, when she exclaims: ‘ my soul magnifies the glory of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. “
End of the Conference: commitment to the needy
On this day in which ends the 17th National Eucharistic Congress, Cardinal Damasceno pointed out that you can’t forget the Pope’s appeals to this Holy Year of mercy.
“Let us not forget, warns the Pope Francis, that in the twilight of this life we will be examined by love. We pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, always the day when we celebrate her assumption to Heaven, to help us to be renewed with the strength of the Eucharist,to be true disciples, missionaries engaged in carrying out the work of evangelization our country so requires. “
For the Archbishop of Aparecida, the 17th Congress, which ended Sunday is a landmark of the inaugural of a new era of hope for Amazon and for all Brazil.