Before praying the Angelus this Sunday for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Pope Francis encouraged us to be “eucharistic,” that is, to give our lives as Jesus did in the Eucharist, and to break and share the “bread of our life,” following his example.
This was indicated by the Holy Father in his reflection before the recitation of the Marian prayer, on a rainy noon, before thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square carrying their umbrellas.
“In Italy and other countries, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi today. The Gospel of today’s liturgy tells us about the Last Supper of Jesus (Mk 14, 12-26), during which He makes a gesture of giving: in the broken bread and the chalice offered to the disciples, It is He who gives Himself for all humanity and offers Himself for the life of the world,” Pope Francis said.
In this gesture of Jesus when breaking the bread, the Holy Father continued, “there is an important aspect that the Gospel underlines with the words ‘he gave it to him’ (v. 22). Indeed, the Eucharist remembers above all the dimension of the gift. “Jesus takes the bread not to consume it alone, but to break it and give it to the disciples, thus revealing his identity and mission.”
“He did not retain life for himself, but gave it to us; He did not consider his being from God as a jealous treasure, but he emptied himself of his glory to share our humanity and allow us to enter eternal life (cf. Phil 2:1-11). “Jesus donated his entire life.”
Pope Francis also highlighted that “celebrating the Eucharist and eating this Bread, as we do especially on Sundays, is not an act of worship unrelated to life or a mere moment of personal consolation; We must always remember that Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to them.”
Therefore, he stressed, “Communion with Him makes us capable of also becoming broken bread for others, of sharing what we are and what we have.”
“We are called to this: to become what we eat, to be ‘eucharistic’, that is, people who no longer live for themselves, in the logic of possession and consumption, but who know how to make their life a gift. for everyone else”.
Thus, through the Eucharist, “we become prophets and builders of a new world: when we overcome selfishness and open ourselves to love, when we cultivate the bonds of brotherhood when we share the sufferings of our brothers and share our bread and our resources with those in need when we make our talents available to all, then we break the bread of our life like Jesus.”
The Holy Father encouraged each one to question themselves: “Let us ask ourselves then: Do I keep my life just for myself or do I give it like Jesus? Do I spend myself for others or lock myself in my little self? And, in everyday situations, do I know how to share or do I always look for my interest?”
To conclude, Pope Francis prayed “that the Virgin Mary, who welcomed Jesus, Bread come down from Heaven, and gave herself entirely to Him, would also help us to become a gift of love, united to Jesus in the Eucharist.”