(Vatican Radio) “To doubt the divinity of Jesus…is to oppose God's work”, said Pope
Benedict XVI Sunday, as he continued his Angelus reflections on the Gospel of John
Chapter 6, on Jesus as the Bread of Life.Emer McCarthy reports Listen:
The
inner courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo was packed from early morning.
As the bells of the nearby church struck noon, the Holy Father appeared at the tiny
balcony to the joy of the pilgrims gathered below.
In comments in Italian
he said, like those who doubt Christ’s divinity in today’s Gospel – His being the
Living Bread from Heaven that gives eternal life - we too must ask ourselves if we
really feel this hunger, “hunger for the word of God, hunger to know the real meaning
of life. Only those who are attracted by God the Father, who listen and allow themselves
to be instructed by Him can believe in Jesus, encounter Him and nourish themselves
of Him and this find true life, the path of life, justice, truth and love”.
Below
a Vatican Radio translation of Pope Benedict XVI’s Angelus reflections
Dear
brothers and sisters!
The reading of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John,
which accompanies us in the Sunday Liturgies, led us to reflect last Sunday on the
miraculous multiplication of bread with which or Lord fed a crowd of five thousand
and on Jesus’ invitation to those whom he had satisfied to busy themselves in procuring
a food that endures for eternal life. Jesus wants to help them understand the deeper
meaning of the miracle that he has worked: in miraculous satisfying their physical
hunger, he prepares them to welcome the announcement that He is the bread which came
down from heaven (cf. John 6:41), that satisfies in a permanent way. Even the Jewish
people during the long journey in the desert, had experienced a bread that came down
from heaven, manna, which had kept them alive until their arrival in the promised
land. Now, Jesus speaks of himself as the true bread which came down from heaven,
able to keep alive, not for a moment or part of the journey, but forever. He is the
food that gives eternal life, because he is the only begotten Son of God, who is in
the bosom of the Father, who came to give man life to the full, to introduce man into
the life of God.
In Jewish thought it was clear that the true bread from heaven,
that nourished Israel was the Law, the word of God. The people of Israel clearly recognized
that the Torah was the fundamental and lasting gift of Moses and that the fundamental
element that distinguished them from other people lay in their knowing God's will
and therefore the right path of life. Now Jesus, in revealing himself as the bread
of heaven, testifies that He is the Word of God in person, the Word incarnate, through
which man can make God's will his food (cf. Jn 4:34), which guides and supports our
existence.
Thus doubting the divinity of Jesus, as do the Jews of today's Gospel
passage, means opposing God's work. They in fact say: Is this not Jesus, the son of
Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother! (John 6.42). They do not go beyond his
earthly origins, and therefore refuse to welcome Him as the Word of God made flesh.
St. Augustine in his homly on the Gospel of John thus comments, "they were far off
from the bread of heaven, and knew not how to hunger after it. They had the jaws of
their heart languid... This bread, indeed, requires the hunger of the inner man "(Homilies
on the Gospel of John 26.1). And we too must ask ourselves if we really feel this
hunger, hunger for the word of God, hunger to know the real meaning of life. Only
those who are attracted by God the Father, who listen and allow themselves to be instructed
by Him can believe in Jesus, encounter Him and nourish themselves of Him and this
find true life, the path of life, justice, truth and love. St. Augustine adds: "...
the Lord said He was the bread that came down from heaven, exhorting us to believe
on Him. For to believe on Him is to eat the living bread. He that believes eats; he
is sated invisibly, because invisibly is he born again. A babe within, a new man within.
Where he is made new, there he is satisfied with food "(ibid.).
Invoking the
Most Blessed Virgin Mary, we ask her to guide us to the encounter with Jesus so that
our friendship with Him be always more intense; we ask her to introduce us into the
full communion of love with her Son, the living bread which came down from heaven,
so as to be renewed by Him in our innermost selves.
POST ANGELUS
Dear
brothers and sisters, My thoughts go at this time to the people of Asia, especially
to the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China, hardest hit by violent rains,
as well as those of the North-west Iran, hit by a violent earthquake. These events
have caused numerous deaths and injuries, thousands of displaced people and extensive
damage. I invite you to join me in prayer for those who have lost their lives and
for all the people tried by such a devastating disaster. May our solidarity and our
support not be lacking to these our brothers and sisters.
I am pleased
to greet the English-speaking pilgrims gathered for this Angelus prayer. The readings
from today’s Mass invite us to put our faith in Jesus, the “bread of life” who offers
himself to us in the Eucharist and promises us the joy of the resurrection. During
these summer holidays, may you and your families respond to the Lord’s invitation
by actively participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice and by generous acts of charity.
Upon all of you I invoke his blessings of joy and peace!