VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV told visitors gathered at St. Peter’s Square that participation in the Eucharist transforms believers into the Body of Christ and offers a remedy to the divisions affecting families and communities, devoting his final weekly general audience before Aug. 5 to the Church’s central sacrament.
“This gift draws us into the dynamic of unity, offering a powerful antidote to the forces of division that undermine our world, our communities, our families, and our hearts,” Pope Leo said. The audience was the last in his current catechetical series before a summer recess.
Continuing his cycle on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the pope focused on “Sacrosanctum Concilium,” the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, explaining how the Eucharist draws the faithful into deeper communion with God and one another. Receiving Christ in the Eucharist makes believers part of the Body of Christ, whose head is the risen Lord seated at the right hand of the Father, he said. “Thus, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Kingdom that is to come.”
Pope Leo stressed that the sacrament cannot be understood apart from Scripture. “The Eucharist cannot be separated from the Word of God,” he said, adding that “the liturgy and the Eucharist form one single act of worship.” Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, he said Scripture illuminates and explains the mystery of the Eucharist, while the Eucharist opens believers to a deeper understanding of Scripture. “This Word nourishes and sustains us together with the Eucharistic bread and leads us from the decay of sin to new life in Christ.”
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy teaches that the faithful are called to “offer themselves in union with Jesus Christ” to the Father “through the hands of the priest and together with him,” the pope said. He pointed to the Lectionary — the book of biblical readings proclaimed at Mass — as a concrete fruit of the council’s liturgical reform, saying the expanded collection of readings reflects the richness of the Church’s living tradition, combining “fidelity to tradition with openness to legitimate progress.”
In remarks addressed to Polish-speaking visitors, Pope Leo encouraged young people to use the summer break to attend Mass, go to confession frequently, reflect on Scripture, go on spiritual retreats and pilgrimages, and spend time with loved ones. “Vacation is a time for rest and to seek signs of God in the beauty of creation,” he said. He also asked the faithful to pray for students so that they may “choose wisely” the schools and universities they will attend and “discern with prudence their vocation.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, let us draw with faith from this source of divine life and allow ourselves to be transformed by the mystery we celebrate,” the pope said. His general audiences are scheduled to resume Aug. 5.