Vatican
City, 31 May 2013
(VIS) – Yesterday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Pope Francis
celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. He then led, on
foot, the Eucharistic procession that wound along Rome's Via
Merulana, until reaching the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. Following
are ample extracts from the Holy Father's homily, which focused on
the Gospel story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
“In
the Gospel we have just heard, there is an expression of Jesus that
always strikes me: 'Give them some food yourselves'. ... who are the
ones whom we should feed? ... the crowd, the multitude. Jesus is in
the midst of the people. He welcomes them; talks to them; heals them.
He shows them God's mercy. In their midst, He chooses the twelve
Apostles to be with him and, like him, to immerse themselves in the
concrete situations of the world. The people follow him and listen to
him because Jesus speaks and acts in a new way, with the authority of
someone who is authentic and consistent; someone who speaks and acts
truthfully; someone who gives the hope that comes from God; one who
is revelation of the face of the God who is love. And the people
joyfully bless God.”
“This
evening we are that crowd in the Gospel. We also strive to follow
Jesus to listen to him, to enter into communion with him in the
Eucharist, to accompany him, so that He might accompany us. Let us
ask ourselves: how do I follow Jesus? Jesus speaks in silence, in the
Mystery of the Eucharist, and every time He reminds us that following
him means going out of ourselves and making our lives not our
possession, but a gift to him and to others.”
“The
invitation that Jesus extends to his disciples to feed the multitude
themselves is born of two elements: most of all from the crowd that,
having followed Jesus, now finds itself outside, far from inhabited
areas, as evening falls, and then, from the disciples' concern, who
asked Jesus to dismiss the crowd so that they might seek food and
lodging in the nearby towns. Faced with the crowd's needs, the
disciples' solution is for everyone to take care of themselves. ...
How many times do we Christians have this temptation! We do not care
for the needs of others, dismissing them with a pitiful, 'May God
help you'. … But Jesus’ solution goes in another direction … He
asks the disciples to seat the people in communities of fifty
persons. He raises his eyes to heaven, recites the blessing, breaks
the loaves, and gives them to the disciples to distribute.”
“It
is a moment of profound communion. The crowd, whose thirst has been
quenched by the word of the Lord, is now nourished by his bread of
life. … This evening, we too are gathered around the Lord’s table
... It is in listening to his Word, in nourishing ourselves with his
Body and his Blood, that He makes us transforms us from a multitude
into a community, from anonymity to communion. The Eucharist is the
sacrament of communion, which brings us out from our selfishness to
live together our journey in his footsteps, our faith in him. We all
ought, therefore, to ask ourselves before the Lord: How do I live the
Eucharist? Do I live it anonymously or as a moment of true communion
with the Lord and also with the many brothers and sisters who share
this same table?”
The
multiplication of the loaves [is born of] Jesus' invitation to his
disciples: 'Feed them yourselves', 'give', share. What do the
disciples share? What little they have: five loaves and two fishes.
But it is precisely those loaves and fishes that, in God’s hands,
feed the whole crowd. And it is precisely the disciples, bewildered
by the inability of their means, by the poverty of what they have at
their disposal, who invite the people to sit down and— trusting
Jesus' word of—distribute the loaves and fishes that feed the
crowd. This tells us that in the Church, but also in society, a
keyword that we need not fear is 'solidarity', that is, knowing how
to place what we have at God’s disposal, our humble abilities,
because only in sharing them, in giving them, that our lives will be
fruitful, will bear fruit. Solidarity: a word upon which the spirit
of the world looks unkindly!”
“Tonight,
once again, the Lord gives us the bread which is his body. He makes a
gift of himself. We also experiencing “God's solidarity” with
humanity, ... a solidarity that never ceases to amaze us. God draws
near to us. In the sacrifice of the Cross He lowers himself, entering
into the darkness of death in order to give us his life, which
conquers evil, selfishness, and death. This evening too, Jesus gives
himself to us in the Eucharist. He shares our journey, or rather, He
becomes food, real food that sustains our lives even at the times
when the going is rough, when obstacles slow our steps. In the
Eucharist, the Lord makes us follow his path, the path of service,
sharing, and giving—and what little we have, what little we are, if
shared, becomes wealth, because the power of God, which is love,
descends into our poverty to transform it.”
“Discipleship,
communion, and sharing. Let us pray that our participation in the
Eucharist may always inspire us: to follow the Lord every day, to be
instruments of communion, to share what we are with Him and with our
neighbour. Then our lives will be truly fruitful.”
