(Vatican Radio) More than 100,000 pilgrims were in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday
for the Pope’s weekly Angelus address. On a beautiful June day, Pope Francis spoke
about the Feast of Corpus Christi, “the feast of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the
Body and Blood of Christ.”
This feast, the Holy Father said, “calls us
to convert to faith in Providence, to be able to share the little that we are and
that we have, and never to close in on ourselves.”
Below, please
find Vatican Radio's translation of the complete text of Pope Francis’ catechesis
during the Sunday Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Last
Thursday we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi, which in Italy and other countries
is transferred to Sunday. It is the Feast of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Body
and Blood of Christ.
The Gospel tells the story of the miracle of the loaves
(Luke 9:11-17). I want to focus on one aspect that always strikes me and makes me
think. We are on the shore of Lake Galilee, the evening draws near, Jesus cares for
the people who have been with him for so many hours: there are thousands of them,
and they are hungry. What to do? The disciples are discussing the problem, and they
say to Jesus, “Dismiss the crowd” so that they can go into the neighboring villages
to find food. But Jesus says, “Give them some food yourselves” (v. 13). The disciples
are unsettled, and they respond, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have,” as if
to say: just enough for ourselves.
Jesus knows very well what to do, but wants
to involve his disciples, He wants to teach them. The attitude of the disciples is
human attitude, an attitude that seeks the most realistic solution, a solution that
does not create too many problems: Dismiss the crowd - they say - let each one arrange
what he can for himself; for the rest, you have already done so much for them:
you preached, you healed the sick...Dimiss the crowd!
Jesus’ attitude is completely
different, and is dictated by His union with the Father and compassion for the people,
the compassion Jesus has for all of us: Jesus feels our problems, feels our failings,
feels our needs. Before those five loaves, Jesus thinks: here is providence! From
this tiny amount, God can bring forth what is necessary for everyone. Jesus trusts
completely in the heavenly Father, He knows that in Him all things are possible. So
he tells the disciples to have the people sit down in groups of fifty – this is not
accidental: this means that they are no longer a crowd, but they become communities,
nourished by the bread of God. Then He takes the loaves and fishes, raises His eyes
to heaven, says the blessing – the reference to the Eucharist is clear - and then
He breaks them and begins to give them to the disciples, and the disciples distribute
them... and bread and fish do not do not run out! This is the miracle: more than
a multiplication it is a sharing, animated by faith and prayer. They all ate and some
was left over: it is the sign of Jesus, the bread of God for humanity.
The
disciples saw, but didn’t understand the message well. They were caught up, like the
crowd, in the enthusiasm of success. Once again, they followed human logic and not
that of God, that of service, of love, of faith. The feast of Corpus Christi calls
us to convert to faith in Providence, to be able to share the little that we are and
that we have, and never to close in on ourselves. Let us ask our Mother Mary to help
in this conversion, to truly follow the Jesus whom we worship in the Eucharist. Amen.