For years, I accompanied Pope John Paul II in his Corpus Christi processions from the Basilica of St. John the Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, through the wide and long Via Merulana.

Many times, the Pope walked carrying the monstrance for about an hour. In recent years, a special car drives the Holy Father, who kneels before the Blessed Sacrament while the faithful walk ahead of him singing and praying, with candles in their hands.

I think John Paul is more and more being “driven” by the Eucharist. Certainly, what keeps him going on is not his weak and old body but his deep spiritual life — a life nourished by the Bread of Life.

The same holds true for the Church. Weakened by infidelities, persecutions and the increasing secularization of our societies, “the Church draws her life from the Eucharist,” as the Holy Father repeats in his 2003 encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (On the Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church).

On Oct.17, the Pope inaugurated the Year of the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica to make that point: We draw our light, life, holiness and salvation from the sacrament of love.

“In the wake of the Second Vatican Council and of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the Year of the Eucharist is meant to be a time of intense encounter with Christ, present in the sacrament of his body and blood,” said the Holy Father in his Sunday midday meditation.

The formal inauguration of the Year of the Eucharist later that day was “Eucharistic” — simple but deeply moving.

Thousands of people gathered at St. Peter's Square a couple of hours ahead of time. Waiting patiently for security personnel to check us before going into the basilica, we enjoyed the Roman reddish sunset that provided a perfect climate for this significant event.

The basilica was quickly packed with pilgrims from all over the world, especially from the United States and Europe. Hundreds of people stayed in the square, watching the ceremony from two big screens.

At 5:30 p.m., the Holy Father was wheeled from Michelangelo's Pieta chapel, in the back of the basilica, to the baldachino. His smiling face matched the glowing golden vestments he wore. He began the Mass sitting in his chair below the main altar, speaking with a clear, firm voice.

A few hours earlier, I had heard him reciting the midday Angelus from the balcony of his office with a weaker voice. But now his gestures and facial expressions showed a relative good health. It seems that the joy of inaugurating such a year of graces gave him special strength.

Not to tire the Pope excessively, however, Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano presided over the Eucharistic prayer.

At the end of the celebration of the Eucharist, we had exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and some time for adoration, between prayers, moments of silence and readings of the Scripture.

What a deeply spiritual and inspiring time! Thousands of people, from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, reverently adored the Lord in an otherworldly fraternal spirit.

Encountering Jesus

“The point of encounter,” the Pope said after the benediction, “is Jesus himself, really present in the most holy Eucharist with his mystery of death and resurrection, in which heaven and earth are united, and the different peoples and cultures come together.”

The Holy Father's address in Spanish after the ceremony marked the conclusion of the International Eucharistic Congress that had been held for eight days in Guadalajara, Mexico, and to which he was linked via television. As the Pope had explained in his midday meditation, in the Congress, “the Eucharist was celebrated and adored as ‘light and life of the new millennium.’ Light, because in the Eucharistic mystery shines the presence of Christ, light of the world; life, because in the Eucharist, Jesus has given us himself, bread of life.”

After the address, John Paul was wheeled back to the sacristy while he waved to the pilgrims in a rather vigorous way. He was visibly happy.

When I waved my hand back to him, I thought that the Year of the Eucharist was Christ's personal invitation to be “driven,” like his vicar on earth, by the Eucharist.

Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome.

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