Papal Legate Closes Spain's Eucharistic Congress

TOLEDO, Spain, JUNE 1, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Eucharist is the "greatest wonder" of God's creation, says Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals and papal legate to Spain's 10th National Eucharistic Congress.

The five-day event, held in Toledo, closed Monday. Cardinal Sodano presided at the closing Eucharistic celebration at the city's cathedral.

In his homily, he said the Eucharist "invites us to commit ourselves to all our brothers to face the present-day challenges. God's presence among us is certainly realized in various ways, but it is in the Eucharist where it is realized in its highest degree."
 
"In fact," the cardinal continued, "we know that God is present throughout the world, a cosmic presence: 'He is before all things, and in him all things hold together' (Colossians 1:17). Moreover, faith teaches us that God is present in every human person, created by God in his image and likeness (cf. Genesis 1:26).
 
"In the light of the faith we also believe that there is a divine presence of predilection in the Holy Church, a mystical presence in the whole ecclesial Body, a presence in his Pastors and in his faithful."
 
"And how can we forget God's presence in sacred Scripture?" Cardinal Sodano asked.

However, towering over all the forms of Christ's presence in our midst, is "the Eucharistic presence, which we today wish to celebrate in a particular way, as the greatest wonder that God has wrought among us."
 
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress, organized by the Diocese of Toledo in collaboration with the Spanish episcopal conference, is one of the initiatives included in the conference's pastoral plan (2006-2010) titled "I Am the Bread of Life (John 6:35): To Live From the Eucharist."
 
During the congress the youth of Spain received the World Youth Day Cross and the icon of the Virgin Mary. Madrid will host the international youth day in 2011.