Chalice of Hope

Next week, as we come to the last Thursday of October, our archdiocese will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Chalice, this year in a particularly special way, as it will mark the beginning of the new jubilee year which the Church in Valencia observes every five years. The aim is that the veneration of this sacred relic may inspire in our Church a deeper adherence to Jesus Christ and a renewed outpouring of love for the Eucharistic sacrament.

The central celebrations of the Year of the Holy Chalice will begin once the universal Jubilee in which we currently find ourselves has come to a close. This has been a year in which the Church has sought to awaken within our hearts the virtue of hope. In continuity with this teaching, the theme of the Year of the Holy Chalice seeks to link hope with the Eucharist, reminding us that only those who are nourished by this pilgrim’s bread can experience the most intimate encounter with Jesus, the true source of hope.

For every Christian who participates in it, the Eucharist is a place where Christian hope is both nourished and sustained. From the moment when Jesus met the disciples on the road to Emmaus—who were leaving Jerusalem downcast and disheartened—and they recognised him in the breaking of the bread, participation in the Eucharist has been a balm for our sufferings and help in the difficulties and tribulations along the journey of faith. By partaking at the table with our brothers and sisters, we are united to Christ, and our faith is strengthened through the encounter with the Risen One.

The Year of the Holy Chalice offers us an opportunity to rethink and strengthen the Eucharistic life of our Christian communities. The social changes of recent decades, the emergence of new forms of leisure, and new ways of relating to one another have led to a clear weakening of the centrality of Sunday Eucharist in the lives of Christians, even among those actively involved in the pastoral structures of our parishes. This may be an opportunity to reaffirm the value of this time of encounter with the Risen Lord and with the community of brothers and sisters who pray together and prepare to grow in our communion with Christ. The veneration of the Holy Chalice, as a relic linked to the Eucharist, is a clear call to unite our lives with the Eucharistic Sacrament, so that, sharing in Christ’s love for humanity, the desire may be awakened in us to give ourselves, as He did, to our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to live this time as a gift, to reaffirm the Eucharistic identity of our archdiocese, which—under the influence of Saint John of Ribera—has nurtured and given structure to the life of our communities for centuries, through the adoration and esteem of the Blessed Sacrament. I also wish to express my gratitude for the joint efforts of the Holy Cathedral Church which, together with the Cathedral Chapter and the associations of the faithful linked to the relic of the Holy Chalice, has carefully prepared all the celebrations for the year we are about to begin, an effort to which the support of public institutions has also been added.

May this Year of the Holy Chalice help us draw nearer to this spiritual nourishment which sustains us and gives us strength to proclaim with hope the Good News of the love of God revealed in Christ, who in the Eucharistic bread and wine remains in our midst.