Bishop Mario Iceta presided over the Corpus Christi Eucharist and procession, encouraging the people of Burgos to “expose our wounds” and “give ourselves to others like the Lord.”
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“How many Eucharistic baths do we need?” As if it were about managing melanomas, being before the Lord is similar to standing before the sun. «The Lord is for you in thousands of tabernacles; he exposes himself before you in custody. “I expose myself before the sun of your love, Lord, so that you can heal my sores and pains.” With this image, the archbishop has invited the people of Burgos to experience the solemnity of Corpus Christi. For mons. Mario Iceta, the Eucharist is the bread of freedom, the bread that helps one walk and strengthens the journey of life, the bread of love, the bread that anticipates Paradise. This is what he explained in his homily, delivered in a crowded cathedral. In the celebration, the children who received their first communion this year and the volunteers and agents of diocesan Cáritas have taken on a special role.
“You cannot love without freedom,” he explained. And in the face of a world in which obedience is not fashionable, she has assured that “the perfection of freedom is obedience to Christ, because it frees us from slavery.” And “if you do not obey Christ out of love, you obey the serpent as a slave,” he recommended. For this reason, and because “life tires us because it is complex and has darkness,” Christ gives himself in this bread “of strength, of hope; the bread that embraces us” to be able to advance along the path of life.
For the pastor of the Church in Burgos, the Eucharist is also “the bread of love”, “it is the gift that makes it possible for us to be a gift for others, to love the sick, those who do not have, the migrants ; to love even our enemies… How much we need this bread », he insisted. For this reason, coinciding with Corpus Christi, today Cáritas Day is also celebrated. Because this entity of the Church, to which he has especially thanked for his work, “spurs us to give ourselves to others, to give ourselves like the Lord.”
Finally, the Eucharist is also a preview of the heavenly banquet. “It is the bread that unites heaven and earth, a foretaste of that banquet where no human food is served, but Christ himself is given to us for all eternity,” he concluded.
Procession
After the mass, and as the Church has celebrated since the solemnity of Corpus Christi was instituted in the 13th century, the procession with the Holy Sacrament took place, which traveled through the streets of the city center. Throughout the journey, there has been no shortage of applause and cheers for the sacramental Jesus, the dances of dancers, altars adorning the route and representatives of Eucharistic adoration movements. Cáritas volunteers have carpeted part of Laín Calvo street with sawdust. The tintinabulo and the umbrela (distinctives of the basilicas) have also been part of the procession. As is tradition, the party also featured the presence of gigantillos and giantesses. The civil world has also been present, with the mayor of the city at the helm, and provincial deputies.
At the end of the procession, the archbishop gave the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament at the foot of the cathedral, hoping that it would reach all corners of the archdiocese, especially the sick, migrants, the people who suffer the most and the young people who are week they will have to pass their university entrance exams.
