Monday, June 8, 2015

Angelus: those who are nourished by the bread of Christ cannot be indifferent to those without daily bread


Vatican City, 7 June 2015 (VIS) – At midday today – the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, or according to the better known Latin expression, Corpus Domini – the Pope appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Francis commented on the Gospel reading of this Sunday's liturgy, which narrates the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper, when Jesus, pronouncing the words, “Take; this is my body”, assigns to the bread a function “that is not solely that of simple physical nourishment, but rather that of being present in his Person in the midst of the community of believers”.

The Last Supper is “the point of arrival of all of Christ's life. It is not merely the anticipation of His sacrifice that will be fulfilled on the Cross, but also the synthesis of an existence offered for the salvation of all of humanity”. Therefore, “when we eat this bread, we are associated with Jesus' life, we enter into communion with Him, we undertake to achieve communion among ourselves, and to transform our life into a gift, especially to the poorest”.

“Today's Solemnity evokes this fraternal message, and urges us to welcome the invitation to conversion and to service, to love and to forgiveness. It inspires us to convert, with our life, into imitators of what we celebrate in the liturgy. Christ, Who nourishes us in the form of the consecrated bread and wine, is the same Whom we encounter in daily events. … He is in every human being, even the smallest and most defenceless. The Eucharist, the source of love for the life of the Church, is a school of charity and solidarity. Those who are nourished by the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those without daily bread. Today, we are aware, this is an increasingly serious problem”, Francis concluded.

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