Papal preacher devotes Lenten sermon to St. Augustine
March 21, 2014
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the Capuchin Franciscan friar who has served as preacher to the papal household since 1980, preached about St. Augustine in his March 21 sermon to the Pope and the members of the Roman Curia.
St. Augustine’s teaching, he emphasized, can help bring about a greater unity between the Church and non-Catholic Christians.
“The path to take today is, in a certain sense, in an opposite direction to the one Augustine took with the Donatists,” said Father Cantalamessa. “At that time, he needed to move from the communion through the sacraments toward the communion through the grace of the Holy Spirit and charity; today we need to move from the spiritual communion of charity to full communion in the sacraments as well, among which the Eucharist is first.”
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Further information:
- Lenten reflection for Pope, Curia focuses on St. Augustine (Vatican Radio, full text)
- Papal preacher begins Lenten homilies (CWN, 3/14)
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Mar. 22, 2014 1:10 PM ET USA
A better headline for this story would be "Priest Preaches Eucharist FIRST? - Imagine That". After all the blood of Christ did no good to the courtyard floor where Jesus was scourged, did no good for the dirt and stones on Calvary, because they were DEAD, as we are dead, without tthe Eucharist. How hard is that? No one gets to the Father (salvation) without Jesus and no one gets to Jesus unless the Father draws him. That explains "give us our daily bread"- without Jesus, the Father is beyond us
