At noon today, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims who had gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the usual Sunday appointment.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning.
This Sunday, we continue our reading from the sixth chapter of the gospel of John. After the multiplication of the loaves, the people went about looking for Jesus and finally they found him near Capernaum. He understood quite well their motive for being so enthusiastic about following him and he revealed this reasoning with clarity: You are looking for me not because you have seen signs but because you have eaten the bread and were satisfied (Jn 6:26). In truth, those people were following him in search of material bread which had filled their stomachs the previous day, when Jesus had multiplied the loaves: they did not understand that the bread, which had been broken for them, for all of them, was the expression of Jesus own love. They placed greater value on the bread than on his gift. Faced with such spiritual blindness, Jesus points out the necessity to see beyond the gift, and to discover, to get to know the giver of the gift himself. God himself is the gift and also the giver of the gift. Thus it is that in the bread, in the giving of the bread, the people could find the One who was given, the One who is God. He invites us to open ourselves to a perspective that includes not only a preoccupation with eating something every day, with clothing ourselves, with success, with a career. Jesus speaks of another food, he speaks of a food that is incorruptible and that is good to seek out and to welcome. He urges us: Do not work for food that does not endure, but for food that endures for eternal life, food that the Son of man will give you (Jn 6:27). That is to say, seek salvation, the encounter with God.
With these words, he wants to help us understand that, besides our physical hunger, we carry within ourselves another hunger - we all have this hunger - a more important hunger, which cannot be satisfied with ordinary bread. It is a hunger for life, a hunger for eternity which He alone can provide, in the gift of the bread of life (Jn 6:35). Jesus does not eliminate the preoccupation and the search for daily bread, no, he does not take away our preoccupation with everything that can make life better, but Jesus reminds us that the true significance of our earthly existence will be discovered at the end, in eternity, in the encounter with Him, who is the gift and the giver, and he also reminds us that human history, with its sufferings and its joys should be lived in anticipation of eternity, in the expectation of a final encounter with Him. This final encounter illuminates every day of our lives. If we think about that encounter, about the great gift, about the little gifts we receive during our lives, including our sufferings, our preoccupations will be guided by the hope of that encounter. I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never be hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty! (Jn 6:35). This is a reference to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that feeds our souls and our bodies. Jesus, the bread of life, meets us and welcomes us. He gives meaning and hope to our often torturous path of life. But this bread of life is given along with a task, so that we in turn can nourish the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers and sisters, proclaiming the gospel to them everywhere. Through the witness of our fraternal attitude and our solidarity with others, we make Christ present and demonstrate his love in the midst of mankind.
May the Holy Virgin support us as we seek to follow her Son Jesus, the true bread, the living bread that will not perish but that endures for eternal life.
After the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you all, the faithful of Rome and pilgrims from various other countries.
I greet the young Spaniards from Zizur Mayor, Elizaondo and Pamplona; as well as the Italians from Badia, San Matteo della Decima, Zugliano and Grumolo Pedemonte.
And I greet the pilgrimage on horseback from Arciconfraternita Parte Guelfa from Florence.
Today, we remember the Forgiveness of Assisi: a strong call to draw close to the Lord in the Sacrament of Mercy and also to receive Communion. There are some people who are afraid to come to Confession, forgetting that there, they will not encounter a strict judge but the immeasurably merciful Father. It is true that when we enter the confessional, we feel a bit ashamed. It happens to everyone, to all of us, but we must remember that even this shame is a grace that prepares us for the embrace of the Father, who always forgives, always forgives everyone.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning.
This Sunday, we continue our reading from the sixth chapter of the gospel of John. After the multiplication of the loaves, the people went about looking for Jesus and finally they found him near Capernaum. He understood quite well their motive for being so enthusiastic about following him and he revealed this reasoning with clarity: You are looking for me not because you have seen signs but because you have eaten the bread and were satisfied (Jn 6:26). In truth, those people were following him in search of material bread which had filled their stomachs the previous day, when Jesus had multiplied the loaves: they did not understand that the bread, which had been broken for them, for all of them, was the expression of Jesus own love. They placed greater value on the bread than on his gift. Faced with such spiritual blindness, Jesus points out the necessity to see beyond the gift, and to discover, to get to know the giver of the gift himself. God himself is the gift and also the giver of the gift. Thus it is that in the bread, in the giving of the bread, the people could find the One who was given, the One who is God. He invites us to open ourselves to a perspective that includes not only a preoccupation with eating something every day, with clothing ourselves, with success, with a career. Jesus speaks of another food, he speaks of a food that is incorruptible and that is good to seek out and to welcome. He urges us: Do not work for food that does not endure, but for food that endures for eternal life, food that the Son of man will give you (Jn 6:27). That is to say, seek salvation, the encounter with God.
With these words, he wants to help us understand that, besides our physical hunger, we carry within ourselves another hunger - we all have this hunger - a more important hunger, which cannot be satisfied with ordinary bread. It is a hunger for life, a hunger for eternity which He alone can provide, in the gift of the bread of life (Jn 6:35). Jesus does not eliminate the preoccupation and the search for daily bread, no, he does not take away our preoccupation with everything that can make life better, but Jesus reminds us that the true significance of our earthly existence will be discovered at the end, in eternity, in the encounter with Him, who is the gift and the giver, and he also reminds us that human history, with its sufferings and its joys should be lived in anticipation of eternity, in the expectation of a final encounter with Him. This final encounter illuminates every day of our lives. If we think about that encounter, about the great gift, about the little gifts we receive during our lives, including our sufferings, our preoccupations will be guided by the hope of that encounter. I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will never be hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty! (Jn 6:35). This is a reference to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that feeds our souls and our bodies. Jesus, the bread of life, meets us and welcomes us. He gives meaning and hope to our often torturous path of life. But this bread of life is given along with a task, so that we in turn can nourish the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers and sisters, proclaiming the gospel to them everywhere. Through the witness of our fraternal attitude and our solidarity with others, we make Christ present and demonstrate his love in the midst of mankind.
May the Holy Virgin support us as we seek to follow her Son Jesus, the true bread, the living bread that will not perish but that endures for eternal life.
After the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you all, the faithful of Rome and pilgrims from various other countries.
I greet the young Spaniards from Zizur Mayor, Elizaondo and Pamplona; as well as the Italians from Badia, San Matteo della Decima, Zugliano and Grumolo Pedemonte.
And I greet the pilgrimage on horseback from Arciconfraternita Parte Guelfa from Florence.
Today, we remember the Forgiveness of Assisi: a strong call to draw close to the Lord in the Sacrament of Mercy and also to receive Communion. There are some people who are afraid to come to Confession, forgetting that there, they will not encounter a strict judge but the immeasurably merciful Father. It is true that when we enter the confessional, we feel a bit ashamed. It happens to everyone, to all of us, but we must remember that even this shame is a grace that prepares us for the embrace of the Father, who always forgives, always forgives everyone.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Good bye!
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