VATICAN CITY, JULY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI processed with the Eucharist through the streets of Rome as an offering "of peace and love" for men and women in their daily lives.
The Pope led the traditional Corpus Christi procession this evening. He mentioned the intention of his offering at the Mass he celebrated at St. John Lateran.
During the procession, the Holy Father knelt before the Host exposed in a large monstrance. A white flatbed truck drove the Eucharist and the Pope through the streets, ending at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where Benedict XVI gave Benediction.
Faithful who accompanied the procession carried a candle, symbolizing faith in Christ's real presence in the Eucharist.
Benedict XVI said that the Eucharist passing by, "between houses and through the streets of our city," is "for those who live in them an offering of joy, of eternal life, of peace and of love."
In his homily, the Holy Father said he wanted to put Christ "in the midst of our daily lives, so that he walks where we walk, so that he lives where we live."
"We go through the streets of the world knowing that he is at our side, supported by the hope of one day being able to see him with our faces unveiled in that definitive encounter," he continued.
Benedict XVI explained: "For every Christian generation, the Eucharist is indispensable food that sustains us as we cross the desert of this world, dried by ideological and economic systems that do not promote life, but repress it.
"A world in which the logic of power and possession dominates, instead of the logic of service and love; a world in which the culture of violence and death often triumphs.
"Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts and asks to come in not just for one day, but for forever."
ZE07060701 - 2007-06-07