The importance of the Eucharistic congress to the secular world today

God, in His infinite wisdom, in His omnipotence, and limitless love for man, has imbued each human person with a body, a soul, and a mind. The human mind has two faculties: the will and the intellect. The will is naturally geared to seek everything that is good. The intellect is by nature inclined to search for the truth. Everything that is good, when combined with everything that is true is what we may call a thing of excellence. When man pursues excellence, he is striving towards his creator which is the absolute excellence Himself or what we call perfection. But the human body is subject to the pressures of the secular world. That is why the constant conflicts between the cravings of the body for satisfaction often collide with the human mind's endless pursuit of excellence and perfection. This collision tarnishes the human soul.

The Holy Catholic Church, conscious of the ceaseless conflicts among the human soul, the human body, and the human mind, often comes together in communion with both the religious leaders and the laity, the pastors and the flock, in order to reflect together on how the Church can help man in his daily struggles to achieve harmony within himself. The Congress on the Holy Eucharist, stripped of all the high-sounding dogma and religious doctrines, is simply a joint reflection in search for new insights on how the Church can continue spreading the good news to the people, without ignoring the hard realities of secular life. The Eucharist is an admission by religious leaders that the formulae for leading human lives cannot be solely dictated from Vatican and promulgated by a Pope who speaks "ex cathedra."

This is the reason why the leadership of the Church itself would, every now and then, summon the bishops from all over the world, and bring them usually to Rome, as the modern center of the Catholic faith, to discuss important issues before the Pope summarizes the conclusions in some papal encyclicals for the guidance of the city and the world. The need for constant consultation is an admission that the inspiration and enlightenment by the Holy Spirit is not the monopoly of the Holy Father. The current Eucharistic Congress in Cebu is even more democratic because the doors of the Church have been opened to the laity, along with the clergy, reflecting thus the wider universality of the Church. The choice of Cebu could not have been more apropos considering that our city has been blessed as the cradle of Christianity in this part of Asia.

The importance of this Congress to the secular world today can never be underestimated nor overstated. The secular world is confronted with overwhelming and staggering challenges that often puts clear and present dangers to the faith of the people, challenges that daily and ceaselessly put the human body to the vexing temptations of the flesh, push the limits of the human soul's constant conflicts and confusions, and bewilders and terrifies the human soul. It is important that man discovers the Holy Eucharist again as the strong and invincible anchor that can provide peace and serenity to the human body, soul and mind. The Holy Eucharist is Christ's living legacy to humanity and man can seek his peace and harmony every day in the Holy Eucharist.

Today, man is confronted not only with the devastating pressures of poverty which is exacerbated by social and economic injustice. Injustice in the social and economic context is the concrete results of some peoples' greed. Greed is one of the seven capital sins of man.