I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

The Jews began to argue among themselves: -How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the Father who sent me lives and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died: whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Bread of Life Speech

On the feast of Corpus Christi we celebrate Christ's revelation of the mystery of the Eucharist. His words are of such strong realism that they exclude any interpretation in a figurative sense. The listeners understand the proper and direct meaning of Jesus' words (v. 52), but they do not believe that such a statement can be true.

If it had been understood in a figurative or symbolic sense, it would not have caused them such great surprise, nor would the discussion have taken place. From this is also born the faith of the Church that through the conversion of the bread and wine into his Body and Blood, Christ is made present in this sacrament..

The Council of Trent sums up the Catholic faith when it states: "Because Christ, our Redeemer, said that what He offered in the form of bread was truly His Body, this conviction has always been maintained in the Church, which the Holy Council declares anew: by the consecration of the bread and wine the change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body is effected...". Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood; the Catholic Church has rightly and appropriately called this change transubstantiation" (DS 1642)." Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1376.

In this speech Jesus compares three times (cfr vv. 31-32.49.58) the true Bread of Life, his own Body, with the manna, with which God had fed the Hebrews daily for forty years in the desert.. Thus, invites us to nourish our souls frequently with the food of his Body.

"From the comparison of the Bread of Angels with bread and with manna the disciples could easily deduce that, just as the body is nourished with bread daily, and the Hebrews were daily refreshed with manna in the desert, in the same way the Christian soul could daily eat and feast with the Bread of Heaven. Moreover, almost all the Holy Fathers of the Church teach that the "daily bread", which is commanded to be asked for in the Sunday prayer, is not so much to be understood of the material bread, food for the body, as of the daily reception of the Eucharistic Bread". S. Pius X, Sacra Tridentina Synodus, December 20, 1905.

On the Sunday after Holy Trinity Sunday, thehe Church celebrates Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.. That is its full title, although we usually refer to it by its former Latin name, "...".Corpus Christi". It is interesting to know that its oldest title was Festum Eucharistiae.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came suddenly a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit caused them to speak.
Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost or shebuot

For the Jews, it was one of the three great feasts. At the beginning, thanksgiving for the harvesting of grain (first fruits), but this was joined by the feast for the giving of the Torah, the "instruction manual" of the world and of man, which granted wisdom to Israel. Pentecost was the feast of the Covenant to live always according to God's will as manifested in his Law.

The feast of Sinai

The images that St. Luke uses to indicate the irruption of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost-the wind and the fire-allude to Sinai, where God had revealed himself to the people of Israel and granted them his covenant (cf. Ex 19:3 ff). The feast of Sinai, which Israel celebrated fifty days after Passover, was the feast of the covenant. In speaking of tongues of fire (cf. Acts 2:3), St. Luke wants to present the Cenacle as a new Sinai, as the feast of the Covenant that God makes with his Church, which he will never abandon.

The day of Pentecost

With the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost they make themselves understood by all, whatever their origin and mentality: The day of Pentecost There dwelt at Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when the noise was heard, the multitude came together and were perplexed, for each one heard them speaking in his own language.

They were astonished and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it, then, that we hear them each in our own mother tongue? "Parthians, Medes, Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judea and Cappadocia, of Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the part of Libya near Cyrene, Roman strangers, as well as Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the great things of God (Acts 2:5-11).

The action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

What happens that day, with the action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is the antithesis of the Bible's account of the origins of mankind: At that time the whole earth spoke one language and with the same words. Moving from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Then they said to each other: -Let's make bricks and bake them in the fire! In this way, the bricks served them as stones and the asphalt as mortar. Then they said: -Let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches to heaven! So shall we make a name for ourselves, that we may not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building, and the Lord said, "They are one people, with one language for all, and this is only the beginning of their work; now nothing they try to do will be impossible for them.

Let us go down and confuse their language right there, so that they will no longer understand one another! So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they ceased to build the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth (Gen 11:1-9).

Pentecost: Active communication

When the people in the biblical story began to work as if God did not exist, they found that they themselves had become dehumanized, because they had lost a fundamental element of human beings, which is the ability to agree, to understand each other and to act together. This text contains a perennial truth. In such a technified society, with so many means of communication and information, as the contemporary one, we speak less and less and we understand each other less and less, we lose the real capacity to communicate in an open and sincere dialogue. We need something to help us recover this capacity to be open to others.

The action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

What human pride broke, the action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost put back together again. Today too, docility to the Holy Spirit is what gives us the help we need to build a more humane world, in which no one feels alone, deprived of the attention and affection of others. Jesus promised this to the apostles and to each one of us: I will pray the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you always. (Jn 14:16). Use a Greek word para-kletós which means "the one who speaks next to": is the friend who accompanies us, encourages us and guides us along the way. 

Now that we are talking to God in this time of prayer, we ask ourselves in his presence: do I strive to build my professional and family life, my friendships, the society in which I live, as a world built by my own efforts without caring about God? Or do I want to listen and be docile to the loving voice of the Holy Spirit, that inseparable companion that Jesus has placed at my side to guide and encourage me?

We can invoke the Holy Spirit with an ancient and beautiful prayer of the Church at Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your Love. And we ask the Blessed Virgin, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, that, like her, we may allow her to do great things in our souls, so that we may know how to love God and others, and build a better world with her help.

Meeting with Catholic faithful in Bahrain

In the introduction to your speechhas told them that "it is beautiful to belong to a Church formed by the history of diverse faces, which find harmony in the one face of Jesus.". Taking foot of the geography and culture of the country, has spoken to them about the water that irrigates and makes fruitful so many desert areas. A beautiful image of Christian life as the fruit of faith and the Holy Spirit:

Christians, responsible for living water

In a second moment, the Pope stops at a scene from the Gospel according to St. John. Jesus is in the temple in Jerusalem. The feast of Tabernacles is celebrated, in which the people bless God, thanking him for the gift of the land and the crops and remembering the Covenant. The most important rite of that feast was when the high priest took water from the pool of Siloam and poured it outside the walls of the city, in the midst of the jubilant songs of the people, to express that from Jerusalem would flow a great blessing for all peoples (cfr Ps 87, 7 and especially Ez 47, 1-12).

In this context Jesus, standing up, cries out: "Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and live, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (Jn 7:37-38). The evangelist says that he was referring to the Holy Spirit that the Christians would receive in Pentecost. And Francisco observes: "Jesus dies on the cross. At that moment, it is no longer from the temple of stones, but from the open side of Christ that the water of new life will flow, the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit, destined to regenerate all humanity, freeing it from sin and death".

The gifts of the Holy Spirit

From there, the Pope points out three great gifts that come with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and asks us to welcome and live: joy, unity and 'prophecy'.

Source of joy

First of all, the Holy Spirit is a source of joy. With it comes the certainty of never being alone, because he accompanies us, consoles us and sustains us in difficulties; he encourages us to achieve our greatest desires and opens us to wonder at the beauty of life. It is not a question," observes Peter's successor, "of a momentary emotion. It is even less about that kind of consumerist and individualistic joy present in some of today's cultural experiences. On the contrary, the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit comes from knowing that, when we are united to God, even in the midst of our fatigue and 'dark nights', we can face everything, including pain, the duel and death.

And the best way to preserve and multiply that joy," says Francis, "is to give it. From the EucharistWe can and must spread this joy, especially among young people, families and vocations, with enthusiasm and creativity.

Unit source

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is the source of unity because it makes us children of God the Father (cf. Rom 8:15-16) and therefore brothers and sisters to one another. For this reason, selfishness, divisions and murmuring among us make no sense. The Holy Spirit," the Pope points out, "inaugurates the one language of love, breaks down the barriers of distrust and hatred, and creates spaces of welcome and dialogue. He frees us from fear and gives us the courage to go out to meet others with the disarming power of mercy. The Spirit is capable of forging unity, not in uniformity but in harmony.amidst a great diversity of people, races and cultures.

And, Francisco stresses, "this is the strength of the Christian community, the first witness that we can give to the world (...) Let us live fraternity among ourselves (...), valuing the charisms of all"..

Source of 'prophecy

Finally, the Holy Spirit is the source of prophecy. In the history of salvation we find many prophets whom God calls, consecrates and sends as witnesses and interpreters of what He wants to say to the people. Often the words of the prophets are penetrating. Thus, Francis points out, they They "call by name the evil projects that nestle in people's hearts, call into crisis the false human and religious securities, and invite to conversion".

Well, all Christians have this prophetic vocation. Since the baptismThe Holy Spirit has made us prophets. "And as such we cannot pretend that we do not see the works of evil, stay in a quiet life so as not to get our hands dirty."

On the contrary -he adds- every Christian must sooner or later become involved in the problems of others, bear witness, bring the light of the Gospel message, to practice the beatitudes in everyday situations, which lead us to seek love, justice and peace, and to reject all forms of selfishness, violence and degradation. And he gives the example of concern for prisoners and their needs. "For in the treatment of the least (cf. Mt 25:40) is found the measure of the dignity and hope of a society.".

In short, and this is Francis' message, Christians are called - also in a time when conflicts abound - to bring joy, to promote unity (beginning within the Church) and to get involved with things that are not going well in society. For all this we have the light and strength of the grace that comes from the Holy Spirit. As a fruit of Christ's self-giving, the Spirit makes us children of God and brothers and sisters among ourselves so that we can spread the message of the Gospel throughout the world, which is good news for all, while inviting us to work for the good of all.

A smoking mitre: Bernardino Nozaleda, Archbishop of Valencia, casus belli for Spanish Republicanism.

The Spain of the Restoration, projected and piloted by Antonio Cánovas, tried to establish a framework of cordial coexistence that would satisfactorily and definitively solve the so-called "religious question". That laudable purpose was not achieved, largely because of the bitter political confrontation and the division in the Catholic ranks.

The "disaster of '98" shocked the country, plunging it into a political, moral and cultural pessimism that would mark and give its name to a whole generation of intellectuals and writers of the time.

The Republicans, through a well "armed" press characterized by its Jacobin anticlericalism, mobilizations and rallies held throughout the Peninsula, attacked the constitutional regime and all that it represented, in particular the monarchy and the Catholic Church.

During the so-called "Short Government" (1903-1904) of the conservative Antonio Maura, an event took place that polarized Spanish society to the point of paroxysm: the frustrated appointment of the Dominican Bernardino Nozaleda, the last archbishop of Manila under Spanish rule, as archbishop of Valencia.

Republicans and liberals lit their torches and, shouting "Death to Maura, death to Nozaleda! they inflamed their hosts so that the prelate would neither set foot on Valencian soil nor take possession of his mitre and crosier. And they succeeded.

Vicente Escrivá Salvador

Law Degree from the University of Valencia, Diploma in Human Resources from the School of Business Administration and Management (ESADE), Master in Modern History from the University of Valencia with Extraordinary Award and PhD in History from the Catholic University San Vicente Mártir of Valencia (UCV) with the qualification of outstanding "cum laude". His professional experience is backed by thirty years of legal practice, being a member of the Bar Association of Valencia (ICAV). He is a member of the teaching staff of the Lluís Vives Business School in Valencia. He has also participated as a researcher in national projects. His current lines of research focus on the disciplines of History of Law, Contemporary History, History of the Church, Geopolitics and International Relations. In addition, he is a collaborator and correspondent in Valencia of the CARF Foundation.