VATICAN CITY, MAY 26, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Before taking part in the Corpus Christi procession through a section of Rome, Benedict XVI said that with this gesture believers hope that «our streets will be Jesus’ streets.»
The Pope celebrated Mass on a warm evening today in St. John Lateran Square, in the atrium of the Bishop of Rome’s cathedral.
As night fell, the celebration ended with the procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, thus continuing with a tradition cherished by Pope John Paul II.
In his homily, Benedict XVI made a comparison between the Holy Thursday procession, in which the Church «accompanies Jesus in his solitude, toward the way of the cross,» and the Corpus Christi procession, which «responds symbolically to the Risen One’s mandate» to evangelize.
«We take Christ, present in the figure of bread, through the streets of our city,» the Holy Father said.
«We entrust these streets, these homes, our daily life, to his goodness,» he added. «May our streets be Jesus’ streets! May our homes be homes for him and with him! May his presence penetrate our daily life.
«With this gesture, we place before his eyes the sufferings of the sick, the loneliness of young people and the elderly, temptations, fears, our whole life.»
The Pope added: «The procession is intended to be a great and public blessing for our city: Christ is, in person, the divine blessing for the world.»
