On Monday, June 16, the Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the archbishop of Quebec City, who mentioned the current food crisis in his homily:
"Beloved brothers and sisters, we celebrate now the memorial of the offering of the love of Jesus and of His Passover. The Lord comes to meet us, He calls us and places us in the heart of His offering of love for the salvation of the world. By giving ourselves over with Him, in love, let us ask to be ourselves sources of love for the world. ‘The one who believes in Me, says Jesus, from his side will flow living waters’ (John 7:38). May the Holy Spirit increase our faith and open our hearts to the gift of God who wants to flow in us and reach, through us, the life of the whole world. Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta carried painfully in her heart the distress of the poor and the thirst of love of the Heart of Jesus, in one single mystery. May we also partake in the gift of God who wishes to satisfy all the poor!
Cardinal Ouellet continues: "We celebrate this great International Eucharistic Congress at a time when all of humanity faces the possibility of a food crisis which is sudden and disastrous. Certain basic foods, like rice and corn, have seen their prices doubled or tripled in a few weeks, and this to the great anguish of the poor who do not have the capacity to buy these foods at exhorbitant costs. This situation is intolerable. A quick and concerted action by governmental instances and by the United Nations is necessary and urgent in order to help those who are hungry, and to re-establish the balance in food production and in trade relationships. Let us pray so that the understanding of justice overcome the greed for profit among those who hold economic power.
 Our Mexican full-time Pilgrim Fatima Cervantes with Cardinal Ouellet |
"We ourselves who now celebrate the Bread of Heaven, the gift of God for the life of the world, we cannot take this bread of life without concerning ourselves also of the fate of those who are hungry. Let us now seek to know and understand the causes of this food crisis and, let us call for some kind of political action, all the while committing ourselves for a greater and more just distribution of basic foodstuff, without forgetting water, so that the poorest not be excluded from the common table."
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Cardinal Ouellet giving his homily on June 16. Sitting on left: Cardinal Bernard Agre, former archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, who spent the whole month of June (except for one week in Quebec City for the Eucharistic Congress) at the headquarters of the Pilgrims of St. Michael in Rougemont. He was on the commitee of five cardinals in Rome who wrote the Compendium of the social doctrine of the Church, and therefore greatly appreciates our work for social justice. Before going to Quebec City, he had attended our week of study on Social Credit in Rougemont, and then spoke about us to all the cardinals and bishops he met in Quebec City. He will also be present at our International Congress in Rougemont this year (see page 24).
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