«We are called to break ourselves like bread for others, imitating Christ in the Eucharist. The Year of the Eucharist has strengthened our faith and we will gather the fruits in the years to come when our faithful share testimony of the miracles which have happened in their lives .»
With these words, Bishop Benny Travas of Multan and President of the Pakistani Bishops’ Commission for the Liturgy reviewed the Year of the Eucharist for the Catholic Church in Pakistan which has just closed. His words were reported December 4, 2018, by Fides News Agency.
Bishop Travas presided a Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore concelebrated with Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw who leads the community in Lahore, in the presence of numerous priests, religious and faithful from every diocese in the country. He said: «The Year of the Eucharist motivated all Christians in Pakistan to live a more profound encounter in order to become one with Christ. This encounter with Christ comes about in the Sunday Mass» and he encouraged Eucharistic Adoration.
In the Pastoral Letter issued at the end of the Year of the Eucharist Mons. Benny Travas states: «I pray that the Year of the Eucharist may render our Christian communities missionaries of the Eucharist». At the end of the Year, which coincided with the closing of the Liturgical year, the Bishops Conference organized programs in the dioceses of Pakistan, with meetings on themes such as Eucharist and Faith, Eucharist and Community, Eucharist and God’s Creation, Eucharist and Liturgy.
Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw said: «The Eucharist is a source of unity; it unites all the members of the ecclesial community regardless of caste, ethnic origin, profession or state of life. As the Church in Pakistan, we remain in this unity through the Eucharist». Mons. Shaw underlined that «the life of the Church in Pakistan is founded on the Eucharist» and “it is a life of Eucharistic nature, broken like bread for others «.
