Vatican City, 23 June 2014 (VIS) – At
midday Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study to pray the
traditional Sunday Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's
Square. The Holy Father commented that today Italy and many other
countries celebrate the feast day of the Body and Blood of Christ,
“Corpus Domini” or “Corpus Christi”, in which the ecclesial
community gathers around the Eucharist to adore the most precious
gift that Jesus left to her.
In the Gospel of St. John we find the
narrative on the “bread of life”, spoken by Jesus in the
synagogue of Capernaum, in which He states: “I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life
of the world”. Pope Francis explained, “Jesus says that he has
not come into this world to give something, but to give himself, his
life, as nourishment for those who have faith in him. Our communion
with the Lord commits us, his disciples, to imitate him, making of
our lives, with our attitudes, a bread broken for others, just as the
Master broke the bread that is truly His flesh”.
“Whenever we participate in Holy Mass
and are nourished by the body of Christ, the presence of Jesus and
the Holy Spirit works within us; it shapes our hearts, it
communicates inner attitudes that transform within us into modes of
behaviour in accordance with the Gospel. Firstly, docility to the
Word of God, then fraternity among Christians, the courage of
Christian witness, the creativity of charity, the ability to give
hope to the disheartened, and to welcome the excluded. In this way
the Eucharist helps the Christian lifestyle to mature in us. Christ's
charity, received with an open heart … changes us, transforms us,
makes us capable of loving not according to a human measure, which is
always limited, but according to God's measure, and God's measure is
without measure”.
“And then we become able to love even
those who do not love us”, continued the Pontiff, “and it is not
easy. If we know that a person does not love us we tend not to like
that person. But no! We must love those who do not love us! We must
oppose evil with good, we must forgive, share, welcome others. Thanks
to Jesus and his Spirit, even our life becomes 'bread broken' for our
brothers. And, living in this way, we discover true joy! The joy of
making oneself a gift, to reciprocate the great gift that we have
first received, without any merit on our part.
Francis concluded his brief reflection
by urging the faithful to recall two things: first, that “the
measure of God's love is to love without measure”, and that our
life, “with Jesus' love, receiving the Eucharist, transforms our
life into a gift”.
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