Before the Angelus
After the Angelus
At midday today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square.
The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer:
Before the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In these recent Sundays, the liturgy has shown us the image full of tenderness of Jesus Who goes out to meet the crowds and to tend to their needs. In today’s Gospel passage (cf. Jn 6: 24-35) the perspective changes: it is the crowd, fed by Jesus, which again begins to look for Him. However, for Jesus it is not enough that the people seek Him; He wants the people to know Him. He wants the search for Him and the meeting with Him to go beyond the immediate satisfaction of material needs. Jesus came to bring us something more: to open our existence to a wider horizon than the daily preoccupations of eating, of dressing, of careers and so on. Therefore, turning to the crowd He exclaims: “You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (v. 26). He thus stimulates the people to take a step forward, to question themselves about the meaning of the miracle, and not only to profit from it. Indeed, the multiplication of the loaves and of the fish is a sign of the great gift the Father has made to humanity, which is Jesus Himself!
He, true “bread of life” (v. 35), wants to satiate not only bodies but also souls, giving the spiritual food that can satisfy the greatest hunger. Therefore, He invites the crowd to procure for themselves not the food that does not last, but the food that remains for eternal life (cf. v. 27). It is a food that Jesus gives us every day: His Word, His Body, and His Blood. The crowd listens to the Lord’s invitation, but does not understand the meaning – as happens so many times also with us – and they ask Him: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (v. 28). Jesus’ listeners think that He is asking them to observe precepts to obtain other miracles, such as that of the multiplication of the loaves. This is a common temptation: to reduce religion to the practice of laws, projecting on our relationship with God the image of the relationship between servants and their master. Servants have to execute the tasks that the master has assigned to them, to enjoy his benevolence. We all know this. Therefore, the crowd wants to know from Jesus what action they must do to please God. However, Jesus gives an unexpected answer: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (v. 29). These words are addressed, today, also to us: the work of God doesn’t consist so much in “doing” things but in “believing” in Him that He has sent. This means that faith in Jesus enables us to carry out God’s works. If we let ourselves be involved in this relationship of love and of trust with Jesus, we will be able to perform good works with the fragrance of the Gospel, for the good and the needs of brothers.
The Lord invites us not to forget that, while it is necessary for us to be concerned about material bread, it is even more important to cultivate our relationship with Him, to reinforce our faith in He Who is the “bread of life,” who came to satiate our hunger for truth, our hunger for justice and our hunger for love. On the day in which we remember the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Salus populi romani, may the Virgin Mary support us on our journey of faith and help us to abandon ourselves joyfully to God’s plan for our life.
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
Forty years ago Blessed Pope Paul VI was living his last hours on this earth. Indeed, he died on the evening of 6 August 1978. We remember him with great veneration and gratitude, as we await his canonization this coming 14 October. From heaven may he intercede for the Church, which he loved greatly, and for peace in the world. This great Pope of modernity, let us applaud him, all of us!
I greet with affection all of you, Romans and pilgrims from various countries: families, parish groups, associations and individual faithful.
In particular, I greet those on the cycling pilgrimage from Velehrad, Moldavia, the faithful of Lorca, Spain, and the young people and children of Nòvoli.
I wish you all a good Sunday and please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.
