The great outdoor mass on Pentecost Sunday was quite overwhelming. The sight of StPeter’s Square absolutely packed with a crowd estimated at 300.000 people many of whom were young was thrilling in itself. Our pilgrimage group was most fortunate to have good seats right beside the altar which stands at the top of the steps in front of the basilica. From them we had a great view of the altar and of the Pope. The build-up to the mass was exciting in itself. We had arrived a good one and a half hours ahead of the scheduled 10.30 commencement. But there was so much happening and things to look at that the time passed quickly. Just to observe the teams of seminarian acolytes being rehearsed carefully by various Monsignori; or visitors like us being greeted and shown to their seats was fascinating. There were clergy and religious, politicians and generals, ambassadors and officials and men, women and children from every nation and background. A choir of nuns and other religious sang as we prepared. And then various processions began: the Sistine Chapel Choir took their place; the 200 concelebrating and assisting deacons and priests entered the podium and sat either side; the concelebrating cardinals some 15 in all entered wearing red chasubles and gold miters; the Swiss Guard took up their places at the corners of the platform in their stunning red, blue and gold uniforms with their halberds in hand.

And finally the noise from the crowd indicated the approach of the Pope in his open Land Rover which literally drove up the shallow steps to deposit him before the Altar. And so the Mass of Pentecost began. The Mass was in Latin with an Italian translation in the booklet provided but significant parts of the Mass were in some 10 languages in all. It was good to hear the familiar Acts reading in English. The second reading was in Spanish and the Gospel in Italian. The Prayers of the People were given by 7 people each in their own language including Chinese and Russian and then at the Offertory the gifts were brought up to the altar by 5 groups of people in national costume including a Mexican couple, a Nigerian family, a Korean family and so on. What struck me throughout the Mass was the sense of Universality of the occasion. It was wonderfully Pentecostal. As that reading from Acts was read describing the first day of Pentecost with its Parthians, Medes and Elamites, visitors from Rome and so on I really felt this inclusiveness, this universal scope of the Gospel of Jesus was being re-enacted in a remarkable way. And that was again underlined at the communion when the huge group of concelebrating priests and assisting deacons fanned out into the crowd to give communion. Although I did not receive communion out of respect for Roman Catholic rules nevertheless I could not help thinking of the Feeding of the 5000 and the subsequent discussion we heard in today’s gospel and of course the feeding with the manna in the Wilderness from the first reading from Deuteronomy.

The Eucharist which we honor today on this Corpus Christi celebration is God’s holy food for all his people. It is a sign and sacrament of the generous and loving hospitality of God. But there was another dimension to this great outdoor mass. It would have been all too easy for this to become a triumphalistic occasion with all its grandeur and pomp and ceremony. But it was not. It was a beautifully dignified occasion with the Pope presiding with strength and deep devotion. You felt that in the quality of his voice and in his physical presence. But most of all it was how I and others with me were affected when after communion a long silence was kept. What was remarkable was how the vast crowd caught the moment and entered into the silence. It was most moving to witness this sense of reverence and awe. I truly felt the Spirit present blowing gently among us. One of my criticisms of much of our worship is that it too easily becomes busy. We are always doing or saying or singing something. Good worship needs both sound and action as well as stillness and silence. Today at the conclusion of this Corpus Christi eucharist we will have Benediction an important part of which is silent adoration. Enter into it and be reminded that in the silence we can enter into the mystery at the heart of the Godhead as we can and do in many other ways. So that first experience of the Pilgrimage at the Mass of Pentecost in St Peter’s Square was memorable and rich.

But we were a group of Episcopalians and while honored guests at the Papal mass we were also aware of the realities of our lack of full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. In the afternoon following a tour of the Catacombs of St Priscilla we were able to celebrate our own eucharist according to the Book of Common Prayer in the restored basilican Church of St Sylvester which stands above the Catacombs. It is built on the same site as a 6th century church and incorporates many fragments of the ancient building. I was privileged to be the celebrant of the eucharist on this hallowed site standing above the graves of many early Christian saints including some of the martyrs and confessors of the first four Christian centuries. While in the morning I had been struck by the theme of the Universality of the Eucharist what came home so forcibly in the afternoon eucharist was the sense of Continuity and Connectedness. Here we were celebrating the eucharist as Christians had been doing on this same site since antiquity.

St Paul in the Corinthians reading captures that same sense of continuity of the eucharistic action: “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, this is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Paul is handing on the tradition of the eucharist which he had himself received and others have faithfully passed it on so that this morning we will hear those same words repeated by the celebrant. We are connected to the church throughout the ages, to the apostolic tradition itself each time we gather faithfully for the celebration of the Word and Sacrament in the eucharist. This was strengthened for me on this pilgrimage as we visited those catacombs, as we had the privilege of touring the excavations know as the Necropolis under St Peter’s Basilica and standing in front of the tomb of St Peter as well as visiting St Paul without the Walls which is built on the site of the Tomb of St Paul. That sense of being part of something peopled by the saints throughout time and into whose inheritance and communion we share through our common baptism and in every eucharist became even more real as I blessed the bread and wine of the eucharist in that holy place itself a “thin” place as they say, a place where holiness and the things of eternity seemed very close.

One final word about the ecumenical dimension of our pilgrimage. And that is to say that whatever may divide our churches the things in common are deep and abiding. That was symbolized for me by the amazing welcome and hospitality we were afforded wherever we went. The last eucharist we shared was celebrated by Bishop John Flack from the Anglican Center in Rome and it took place in 17th century Franciscan Oratory now used by English-speaking Roman Catholics. This was a sign for me of the seriousness with which the ecumenical task is taken in Rome and elsewhere. The Unity for which we strive and pray is the Unity for which Christ prayed. “Thou who at thy first Eucharist didst pray that all thy Church might be for ever one.”

Thanks be to God for the gift of the Eucharist in which we share in the Body and Blood of Christ. May we continue to grow into its mystery and discover new meaning and depths each time we share in it.   Amen

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