Sunday, July 29, 2018

Angelus about the bravery of a young boy

At noon today (6:00am EDT), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.


Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

You are brave with this sun in the Square!  Congratulations!

Today's gospel (cf Jn 6:1-15) presents the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Seeing the large crowd that had followed him around the lake of Tiberias, Jesus turned to the Apostle Philip and asked: Where can we buy bread for them to have food? (Jn 6:5). In fact, the few coins that Jesus and the apostles possessed were not enough to feed that multitude. And at that moment, Andrew, another of the Twelve, brought to Jesus a boy who provided everything he had: five loaves and two fish; but of course - Andrew said - But what are these among so many people (cf Jn 6:9) That boy was brave! Courageous. He too saw the crowd, and he saw his five loaves. He said: I have this: if you need it, I am available. This boy makes us think ... What courage! ... Young people are like that, they have courage. We must help them carry on this courage. Jesus ordered the disciples to make people sit down, then he took those loaves and the fish, he gave thanks to the Father and distributed them (cf Jn 6:11), and everyone had enough food to satisfy their hunger. Everyone ate what they wanted.

With this Gospel passage, the liturgy encourages us not to look away from Jesus who, last Sunday, in the Gospel of Mark, seeing a great crowd, had compassion on them (Jn 6:34). Even that boy with the five loaves understood this compassion; he said: Poor people! I have this ...  Compassion led him to offer what he had. In fact, today John shows us again Jesus' attentiveness to the primary needs of people. The episode springs from a concrete fact: people are hungry and Jesus involves his disciples so that this hunger is satisfied. This is a concrete fact. To the crowds, Jesus did not limit himself to giving - he offered his Word, his consolation, his salvation, and finally his life - but he certainly did this too: he took care of food for the body. And we, his disciples, can not pretend anything. Only by listening to the simplest demands of the people and by standing next to their concrete existential situations can we be heard when we speaks of higher values.

God's love for humanity who is hungry for bread, for freedom, for justice, for peace, and above all for his divine grace, never fails. Jesus continues - even today - to feed, to make himself a living and consoling presence, and he does it through us. Therefore, the Gospel invites us to be available and industrious, like that boy who realizes he has five loaves and says: I give this, then you will see ... Faced with the cry of hunger - all sorts of hunger - of so many brothers and sisters in every part of the world, we can not remain detached and calm spectators. The proclamation of Christ, bread of eternal life, requires a generous commitment of solidarity for the poor, the weak, the excluded, the defenceless. This action of proximity and charity is the best verification of the quality of our faith, both on a personal level and on a community level.

Then, at the end of the story, when everyone was satisfied, Jesus told the disciples to collect the left over pieces, so that nothing would be lost. And I would like to offer you this sentence from Jesus: Collect the left over pieces, so that nothing is lost (Jn 6:12). I think of people who are hungry and how much left over food we throw away ... Each of us can think: the food that comes to lunch, to dinner, where does it go? At home, what do you do with left over food? Do you throw it away? No. If you have this habit, I'll give you some advice: talk to your grandparents who lived after the war, and ask them what they did with left over food. Never throw away left over food. It should be given to those who can eat it, to those who need it. Never throw away left over food. This is a suggestion and also an examination of conscience: what do you do at home with food that is left over?

Let us pray to the Virgin Mary, that programmes dedicated to development, food and solidarity may prevail in the world, and not those of hatred, armaments and war.

Following the recitation of the Angelus and the imparting of his blessing, the Holy Father continued:

And don't forget these two things: an image, an icon, and a phrase, a question.  The icon of a courageous young boy who gives the little that he has in order feed a great multitude of people.  Be courageous, always.  And the phrase, which is a question, an examination of conscience: what do I do at home with the food that is left over?  Thank you!



The Holy Father then continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Tomorrow marks the World Day against Human Trafficking, promoted by the United Nations. This scourge enslaves many men, women and children for the purpose of labor and sexual exploitation, organ trafficking, begging and forced delinquency. Even here, in Rome. Migration routes are also often used by traffickers and exploiters to recruit new victims of trafficking. It is everyone's responsibility to denounce injustices and firmly oppose this shameful crime.

Now I greet all the pilgrims who have come from Italy and from various other countries, in particular, the faithful from Rio de Janeiro, New Friburg, Viseu, Quixadá and Fortileza in Brazil.

I greet the members of the Amici di Santa Giovanna Antida Thouret association; the group of scouts from Padua and from Bethlehem; the young people from Cerese di Borgo Virgilio and those from Tombelle who have recently celebrated Confirmation.

I wish you all a good Sunday.  Please, don't forget to pray for me.  Enjoy your lunch and good bye!

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