Where 'human blood is shed too easily,' the Precious Blood offers hope, Holy Land custos preaches (Custodia Sanctae Terrae)

The custos (Franciscan superior) in the Holy Land celebrated Mass in the Basilica of the Agony in Gethsemane on July 1, the traditional date of the Feast of the Most Precious Blood.

In an Italian-language homily entitled “From Nazareth to Gethsemane, from Gethsemane to Calvary, from Calvary to the altar and to each one of us,” Father Francesco Patton concluded:

For us who live in a context in which human blood is shed too easily and unscrupulously, in a context in which words such as forgiveness and reconciliation sound distant and almost unrealizable, in a context in which the only alliances we experience are alliances of power and prevarication; for us who live in this context, Jesus’ words acquire an even stronger meaning, the meaning of a possible hope for reconciliation and peace, the meaning of a possible respect for every human life, the meaning of a new covenant because of its radically different quality from that of the covenants we see around us and on a global scale ...

Let us ask [the Father] that by celebrating the holy mystery of the Most Precious Blood of His Son Jesus Christ we can truly obtain that fruit of reconciliation and peace, of new and eternal life, of universal redemption which in this mystery is contained, signified and given to us.

In the liturgical changes that followed the Second Vatican Council, the Feast of the Most Precious Blood was combined with Corpus Christi on the General Roman Calendar to become the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The feast is kept on the traditional date in the Holy Land.