Pope says only Jesus' body, blood can purify, save humanity

Published: 2007-04-05

ROME (CNS) -- The body and blood of Christ, as well as his love, are the only things that can purify and save humanity, Pope Benedict XVI said. During his April 5 celebration of the Mass of the Lord's Supper, which commemorated Jesus' institution of the Eucharist, the pope reflected on how Christ transformed the Jewish Passover meal into the new Pasch of the Eucharist. Pope Benedict also washed the feet of 12 young laymen from the Diocese of Rome. The ritual reflected the call to imitate Christ by serving one another. The pope poured water from a gold pitcher onto the foot of each young man and then gently rubbed each foot dry with a white towel. In his homily at Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, the pope said Christ is the true living temple where God resides and where "we meet God and adore him." He said, "His blood, the love of the one who is both Son of God and true man -- one of us, that blood can save."

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