Christianity Has No Magic, Says Pope

But God Is Renewing Humanity in Christ

ROME, JUNE 24, 2011 (Zenit.org).- There is nothing magic in Christianity, no shortcuts, but God is patiently renewing humanity along the same path that Jesus followed, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope made this reflection Thursday evening, when he celebrated Mass for Corpus Christi in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

After the Mass, he processed with the Eucharist through the streets of Rome.

The Holy Father spoke of how the Eucharist anticipates Christ's death on Calvary.

At the Last Supper, Jesus "accepts his passion out of love, with its trial and its violence, even to death on the cross; by accepting it in this way he transforms it into an act of giving," he said.

"This," stated the Pontiff, "is the transformation that the world needs most, because he redeems it from within, he opens it up to the kingdom of heaven."

God's method in renewing the world follows this same path, Benedict XVI said. "There is nothing magic in Christianity. There are no shortcuts, but everything passes through the patient and humble logic of the grain of wheat that is broken to give life, the logic of faith that moves mountains with the gentle power of God."

Chain

The Pope affirmed that God wants to continue to renew humanity and the cosmos "through this chain of transformations, of which the Eucharist is the sacrament."

"Through the consecrated bread and wine, in which his Body and Blood is truly present, Christ transforms us, assimilating us in him," he said. "He involves us in his redeeming work, enabling us, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to live according to his same logic of gift, like grains of wheat united with him and in him. Thus unity and peace, which are the goal for which we strive, are sown and mature in the furrows of history, according to God's plan."

He added: "Without illusions, without ideological utopias, we walk the streets of the world, bringing within us the Body of the Lord, like the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation. With the humble awareness that we are simple grains of wheat, we cherish the firm conviction that the love of God, incarnate in Christ, is stronger than evil, violence and death.

"We know that God is preparing for all people new heavens and new earth where peace and justice prevail -- and by faith we glimpse the new world, that is our true home."

The Bishop of Rome echoed the words of the disciples on the road to Emmaus as he noted the setting sun over Rome.

"Thank you, Lord Jesus! Thank you for your fidelity, which sustains our hope," he said. "Stay with us, because the evening comes. 'Jesus, good shepherd and true bread, have mercy on us; feed us and guard us. Grant that we find happiness in the land of the living.'"