Cardinal Tagle's gift of presence

Last of three parts

CARDINAL Tagle offered a nuanced understanding of the link between Vatican II, particularly that of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes), and the theme of the National Eucharistic Congress, which he said was taken from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John: "In the fullness of time, the Father sent His eternal Word, who became flesh, through the Holy Spirit. He was present among us human beings as one like us in the flesh, except in sin. The Son sent by the Father came as a life-giving gift, a gift in the human flesh of Jesus, 'My flesh for the life of the world,' Jesus Himself declares. We should note that Jesus' description of His being sent by the Father is always connected to the gift of His flesh for others, being sent and being a gift."