Holy Mass for the Argentine Nation (12 June 1982)

On Saturday, 12 June 1982, in Buenos Aires , the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, for the Argentine Nation. In his homily, the Pope reflected on the new and eternal covenant,"fulfilled through the Divine Body of the Son of Man." 

Dear brothers and sisters

1. In this beautiful place of the monument to the Spanish, in Buenos Aires, we are gathered to pay homage of faith and veneration to Christ in the Eucharist; to the love that unites, reconciles and elevates the dignity of man.

It is a place that is not only linked to the memory of the first centenary of your independence, but forms an important center in the daily lives of the inhabitants, adults and children, of the city Capital of the Nation.'

Above all this, this square is united with the memory of the XXXII International Eucharistic Congress of 1934. An event that meant so much for the resurgence of Catholic life in Argentina. And that saw the presence, as Legado a Látere , of the then Cardinal Eugénio Pacelli, later Pius XII .

The great cross that is remembered so much, and covered this monument with its arms, was an eloquent symbol of the cross of Christ that towered over your history, in joyful and difficult moments, as a sign of redemption and hope.

In this place we are willing to celebrate today the commemoration of the mystery of love of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

2. Sing, O my tongue, the mystery / of the glorious Body / and of the precious blood...

Yesterday, in the sanctuary of the Mother of God in Luján , a sanctuary of the Argentine Nation, we meditated, following the words of the liturgy, on the mystery of the elevation of man on the Cross of Christ .

From the top of the Cross reach each one of us the words "Woman, behold your Son" — "Behold your Mother" ( John 19, 26-27); and we heard these words in our hearts, in preparation for today’s solemnity:

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Once again we look at the Cross: at the body of Christ suffering from the contractions of death; and we shift our gaze to the Mother: to this Mother, whom the sons and daughters of the Argentine land venerate in the sanctuary of Luján.

Hail, true Body born / of the Virgin Mary, / who truly suffered / on the Cross for man...

Today we venerate precisely this Body: the Divine Body of the Son of Man, of the Son of Mary.

The Blessed Sacrament of the New Covenant. The greatest treasure of the Church. The treasure of faith of all God's people.

3. The solemnity of this day invites us to return to the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday . "Where is the room where I will eat Easter with My disciples?" ( Mc 14, 14). This is what the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth asked a man they met on the way. They did so following the Master's instructions. And also according to these instructions "they prepared the Passover" ( Mc 14, 16).

While they were eating, Jesus "took some bread, and after saying the blessing, he broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'Take, this is my body...'" ( Mk 14:22).

At that moment, as they proceeded according to His order , perhaps the words that Jesus spoke one day near Capernaum appeared in their memory: " I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever" ( John 6, 51).

On that holy day, did they perhaps realize in the cenacle that the time had come to fulfill that promise made near Cafamaúm, a promise that seemed very difficult for so many to accept?

Christ says: "Take, this is my body...", giving them the bread to eat. This Bread becomes His Body , a Body that the next day will be given in the sacrifice of the cross. Martyred body that will distill Blood.

Christ in the upper room takes the cup, and after giving thanks, distributes it to be drunk saying: "This is My blood, the blood of the Covenant, which will be shed for many" ( Mk 14, 24).

Under the species of wine, the disciples receive the Blood of the Lord, and at the same time participate in the New and Eternal Covenant, which is stipulated with the Blood of the Lamb of God.

The feast of the Body of God — the solemnity of the Eucharist — is, at the same time, the Feast of the New and Eternal Covenant , which God sealed with humanity in the Blood of His Son.

4. This Covenant — New and Eternal — was announced and initiated in the Old Covenant , which today's reading talks about, taken from the book of Exodus.

This Covenant was established through the blood of the sacrificed animals with which Moses sprinkled the children of Israel. The people, sprinkled with this blood, promised fidelity to the word of the Lord, contained in the book of the Covenant: "We will do everything that the Lord has said and we will be obedient" ( Ex 24, 7).

The New and Eternal Covenant, whose Sacrament was instituted in the Easter cenacle, is not based on the word written in the Book .

The Word became Flesh. The New Covenant is fulfilled through the Divine Body of the Son of Man. It is fulfilled through the Blood shed on the cross and during the passion. The New Covenant becomes the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ . The Body given in passion and death, and the Blood shed, are the expiatory Sacrifice. In this Sacrifice of the Favorite Son, the definitive Covenant with God was sealed: a new and eternal Covenant.

Today we celebrate, in a particular way, the signs of this Covenant: the Body and Blood of the Lord.

5. That Covenant made only once on the Cross, instituted once as a Sacrament in the cenacle, remains unharmed .

Jesus Christ — as the Author of the letter to the Hebrews proclaims — entered the sanctuary once and for all... after obtaining eternal redemption for us (cf. Heb 9:12).

It can also be said that Jesus Christ constantly enters this Sanctuary where the eternal destiny of man in God is decided, in which his definitive elevation to the dignity of adopted son is completed. This is what "eternal redemption" really consists of.

Much more than any other sacrifice; The Author of the letter to the Hebrews then exclaims: "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God!" ( Heb 9, 14).

The Divine Body carries with it the New Covenant in the blood of Christ. This Blood, flowing from the body Crucified on Golgotha, takes death and at the same time gives Life . Death gives Life! This life has its origin, not in the body that dies, but in the Immortal Spirit : in the Eternal Spirit.

He, who is God, of the same substance as the Father and the Son, "gives life" (as we have professed in the Creed since the time of the Council of Constantinople). With its life-giving influence, the works of human consciences become alive : alive before the living God. In this way, the blood of the Lamb of God shed once on Golgotha, becomes the Eternal Sanctuary of man's divine destinies; the source of Life.

Therefore, He: Christ (Christ: His divine Body and Blood) is the Mediator of the New Covenant, so that, through death (suffered on Golgotha), "those who have been called may receive the promises of eternal inheritance" ( Heb 9 , 15).

6. Here is the mystery of the Body of God and His Most Holy Blood. The mystery on which I had the grace to meditate together with you, dear sons and daughters of the Argentine Nation.

Yesterday, in the sanctuary of the Mother of God in Luján , we meditated, following the words of the liturgy, on the elevation of man through the Cross of Christ: the elevation and dignity of the son of divine adoption.

Today, through the liturgy of the Body of God, we find the same mystery at the center of the New and Eternal Covenant. This mystery is a reality that always remains, without any exception. We are all embraced by him.

And we are all called and invited to receive the Sacrament of the Body and Blood in which the entire truth and reality of the New and Eternal Covenant is written.

The elevation of man on the Cross of Christ is ratified by Food and Drink , which give the measure of this elevation. The Eucharist speaks to us, each time this elevation takes place, in the sacramental sign of the Covenant with man, the price of which Jesus Christ paid with His own Body and Blood.

And in passion and death he placed the principle of Resurrection and Life.

7. Dear sons and daughters of the Argentine land! I meditate with you — as a pilgrim — on these perennial truths of our faith. How beautiful it is that our brief meeting on this occasion takes place within the framework of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ .

I really wanted to have this meeting — independently of a normal pastoral visit to the Church in Argentina that I continue to reflect on —; I really wanted it in light of the difficult and important events of recent weeks .

May the truth about the Body and Blood of Christ — sign of the New and Eternal Covenant — be light for all those sons and daughters, both in Argentina and Great Britain, who in the course of war activities suffered death , shedding their own blood.

Never will this truth, life-giving and united with the certainty of man's elevation on the Cross of Christ, cease to serve as an inspiration to all living people , sons and daughters of this earth, who wish to build their present and future with the best good will.

May the Body and Blood of Christ not cease to be the nourishment of all along these paths, may they lead you throughout your earthly homeland in a spirit of love and service, for the dignity of the nation to be based, always and everywhere, in the dignity of each man as a child of divine adoption.

With this desire for love and service, before ending this meeting of faith I cannot fail to address a special word to young Argentines.

Dear friends: you have been constantly in my thoughts these days. And I particularly appreciated your welcome and attitude. I saw in your eyes the burning plea for peace, which springs from your spirit.

You also join the young people of Great Britain, who in recent days applauded and were equally sensitive to every invocation of peace and concord. In this regard, I am very happy to convey to you a commission I have received. Given that they themselves asked me, especially at the meeting in Cardiff, to send you a heartfelt vow of peace

Do not allow hatred to wither the generous energies and capacity for understanding that everyone has within. Create, with your joined hands — together with the Latin American youth, whom in Puebla I entrusted in a particular way to the care of the Church — a chain of union stronger than the chains of war. This way you will be young and prepare for a better future; then you will be Christians.

And from this place, where with the hymn of the great Eucharistic Congress you begged the God of hearts to teach His love to countries, also now radiate, to every Argentine heart and to the whole society, love, respect for each person, understanding and peace. So be it.

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