Pope Francis reflected on the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on the relationship we have with material goods, and said that “material things do not fill life, they help us move forward and are important, but they do not fill life: only love can do that.”
Reflecting on today’s Gospel, taken from John 6:24-35, the Holy Father noted that “it speaks to us of Jesus who, after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, invites the crowd, who are seeking him, to reflect on what has happened, to understand its meaning.”
“They had eaten that shared food and had been able to see how, even with few resources, with the generosity and courage of a child, who had put what he had at the disposal of others, everyone had been fed until they were satisfied,” he recalled.
The Pope said that “the signal was clear: if each one gives to others what he has, with God’s help, even with little, everyone can have something. Do not forget this: if one gives to others what he has, with God’s help, even with little, everyone can have something. Do not forget this.”
“And they did not understand: they mistook Jesus for some kind of magician, and they went back to look for him, hoping that he would repeat the miracle as if it were magic,” he lamented.
“Their attention was focused only on the loaves and fish, on material food, which ended immediately. They did not realize that this was only an instrument through which the Father while satisfying their hunger, revealed to them something much more important,” he said.
“And what did the Father reveal? The way of life that lasts forever and the taste of bread that satisfies without measure. The true bread, in short, was and is Jesus, his beloved Son made man, who came to share our poverty to lead us, through it, to the joy of full communion with God and with our brothers and sisters,” he explained.
Pope Francis stressed that “the path to follow is that of charity, which keeps nothing for itself, but shares everything.”
He then recalled how this happens within families. “Let us think of those parents who struggle all their lives to raise their children well and leave them something for the future. How beautiful it is when this message is understood and the children are grateful and in turn support each other like brothers and sisters!”
“It is sad, however, when they fight over the inheritance – I have seen many cases, it is sad – and they are fighting against each other, and maybe they do not speak to each other because of money, they do not speak to each other for years! The message of the father and the mother, their most precious legacy, is not money: it is love, it is the love with which they give their children everything they have, just as God does with us, and thus they teach us to love.”
At the end of his message, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to ask themselves: “What relationship do I have with material things? Am I a slave to them or do I use them freely, as tools to give and receive love? Do I know how to say ‘thank you’, ‘thank you’, to God and to my brothers and sisters for the gifts I have received, and do I know how to share them with others?”
“May Mary, who gave her whole life to Jesus, teach us to make everything an instrument of love,” he concluded.