Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Sunday!
Today the Gospel tells us about Jesus, who says with simplicity: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (Jn 6:51). Before the crowd, the Son of God identifies himself with the most common and everyday food: bread, ‘I am the bread’.
Among those who are listening, some begin to discuss (cf. v. 52): How can Jesus give us his own flesh to eat? We too ask ourselves this question today, but with wonder and gratitude. Here are two attitudes on which to reflect: wonder and gratitude before the miracle of the Eucharist.
First: to be amazed, because Jesus’ words surprise us. Jesus always surprises us, always, even today in our own lives. Jesus always surprises us.
The bread of heaven is a gift that surpasses all expectations. Those who do not understand Jesus’ style remain mistrustful: it seems impossible, even inhuman, to eat the flesh of a man and drink his blood (cf. v. 54). Flesh and blood, on the other hand, are the humanity of the Savior, his own life offered as nourishment for ours.
And this brings us to the second attitude: gratitude, because we recognize Jesus where he is present for us and with us. He becomes bread for us.
“He who eats my flesh remains in me, and I in him” (cf. v. 56). Christ, true man, knows well that one must eat in order to live. But he also knows that this is not enough. After having multiplied the earthly bread (cf. Jn 6:1-14), he prepares an even greater gift: he himself becomes true food and true drink (cf. v. 55).
Thank you, Lord Jesus! With our hearts we can say thank you, thank you. The heavenly bread that comes from the Father is the Son made flesh for us. This food is more than necessary because it satisfies the hunger for hope, the hunger for truth, the hunger for salvation that we all feel not in our stomachs, but in our hearts. The Eucharist is necessary for all of us.
Jesus takes care of our greatest need: he saves us, nourishing our life with his own, and this forever. And thanks to him we can live in communion with God and with each other.
The true and living bread is not, therefore, something magical, it is not something that suddenly solves all problems, but it is the very Body of Christ, which gives hope to the poor and overcomes the arrogance of those who boast to their detriment.
Let us ask ourselves, brothers and sisters: do I hunger and thirst for salvation, not only for myself, but for all my brothers and sisters? When I receive the Eucharist, which is the miracle of mercy, am I able to marvel at the Body of the Lord, who died and rose again for us?
Let us pray together to the Virgin Mary, so that she may help us receive the gift of heaven in the sign of bread.
Words of Pope Francis after the Angelus prayer
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today in Uvira, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luigi Carrara, Giovanni Didoné and Vittorio Faccin, Italian Xaverian missionaries, were beatified, together with Albert Joubert, a Congolese priest, who was killed in the country on 28 November 1964.
His martyrdom was the crowning achievement of a life dedicated to the Lord and to his brothers. May his example and intercession foster paths of reconciliation and peace for the good of the Congolese people. A round of applause for the new blesseds!
And we continue to pray that avenues of peace may be opened in the Middle East – Palestine, Israel – as well as in the martyred Ukraine, in Myanmar and in every war zone, through the effort of dialogue and negotiation, abstaining from violent actions and reactions.
I greet you all, dear faithful of Rome and pilgrims from Italy and from various countries. I greet in particular those from the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil and also the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth.
I send my greetings and blessings to the women and young women gathered at the Marian Shrine of Piekary Śląskie in Poland, and I encourage them to bear witness to the Gospel with joy in their families and in society. I also greet the young people of the Immaculate Conception.
I wish everyone a good Sunday. Please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a nice lunch and goodbye!