(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus this Sunday, with pilgrims
and tourists gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo.
The Holy Father focused his remarks ahead of the Angelus on this Sunday’s Gospel
reading, which is taken from the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John
(Jn 6:24-35), in which Our Lord begins to reveal Himself as the Bread of Life. “Though
material needs are important,” said Pope Benedict, “Jesus wants to help people move
beyond the immediate satisfaction of them,” explaining that the Lord desires to open
for us a horizon of existence that is not simply that of the daily concerns of eating,
of clothing, and of one’s working career. He said, “Jesus speaks of a food that does
not perish, a food that we must seek and welcome." It was a theme to which the Holy
Father returned in his English remarks to the faithful following the traditional prayer
of Marian devotion:
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims
present today and I pray that your stay in Rome will help you to grow closer to the
Lord Jesus. In today’s Gospel he says to the people: “I am the bread of life. Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Let us
put our faith in him, and let us put our trust in his promises, so that we may have
life in abundance. May God bless you all!
The Holy Father is in Castel Gandolfo
for the month of August, where he is resting and taking time to make progress on literary
projects. Late last week the Press Office announced that the Pope has completed the
third and final volume of his theological work, Jesus of Nazareth. The manuscript
is now being translated into the major modern languages. Listen: