Reading I Gn 14:18-20 In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4 R (4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek. The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool." R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek. The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion: "Rule in the midst of your enemies." R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek. "Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor; before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you." R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek. The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent: "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Reading II 1 Cor 11:23-26 Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
Sequence Lauda Sion Laud, O Zion, your salvation, Laud with hymns of exultation, Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know, He is more than you bestow. Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving Is the quick’ning and the living Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken, As we know, by faith unshaken, Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting, Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting, From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden, When the institution olden Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law’s new oblation, By the new king’s revelation, Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces, Truth away the shadow chases, Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated, Christ ordained to be repeated, His memorial ne’er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking, Bread and wine we hallow, making Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns, Bread into his flesh he turns, To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives, But a dauntless faith believes, Resting on a pow’r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden Priceless things to sense forbidden; Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken, Yet in either wondrous token Christ entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes, Does not rend the Lord nor breaks; Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers, One, as thousands of believers, Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing, Of what divers dooms preparing, Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation, See how like participation Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken, Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken, That each sever’d outward token doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides, Breaking but the sign betides Jesus still the same abides, still unbroken does remain.
Alleluia Jn 6:51 R. Alleluia, alleluia. I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 9:11b-17 Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
FAUSTI - The daily experience of the Eucharist transfers us to the eighth day, the today of the transfiguration, because it makes us present to Lord's gift of eternal Love. His bread is our life and it enables us, like Elijah, to make the long journey of forty days until the mountain of God's revelation (1 Kings 19:8). The place where Jesus is recognized is not the curiosity of Herod, who wants to control and hold Him in his hand, but the fragrance of bread and the astonished wonder of the disciple who enjoys of it. The breaking of bread is objective revelation of His love for me. I remember it, I bring it to my heart, to the center of myself and I let myself be asked by it, trying to respond. Faith is this dialogue that becomes common life, His love that becomes my bread and nourishes me. Luke's reading of this strictly Christological banquet marks the point of arrival of the mission: the apostolic activity leads to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and has its "summit" and crowning in the Eucharist, which is also its "origin". It is the foundation and also fulfilment of the Church , her beginning and her aim! The story has as its background the expectation of the Messianic banquet in the desert, similar to that which God prepared for His people ( Is.25,6... Hos 11,4). In the end He reveals Himself completely, He makes us enter into His mystery of death and resurrection, and He takes us with Himself in His journey to Jerusalem. It is dance, which instead of mourning, now concludes human fatigue. All verbs are aorist (precise action, once and for all), "to take, to raise the eyes, to bless, to break, to give to the disciples, to offer, to eat and be full." giving is to the imperfect: it began then and continues again and again in the hands of the disciples, who succeeded to the Twelve, who always distribute the only Bread that satisfies the hunger of every living person. The whole Gospel is a commentary on these Words, a catechesis on the Eucharist, the arrival and the departure of the mission, the culmination and the source of Christian life. It introduces every man into the mysteries of God, making him familiar with Him and making him a participant in the Father/Son dialogue, until (with announcement and Eucharist) God will be everything in everyone and His Glory will be witnessed to the ends of the earth. It places those who celebrate it in the heart of the mystery of God, in the memory of His passion for us, in the anticipation of the Resurrection and in the expectation of His return. The apostles, the Twelve, called later disciples, like those who will continue His work, are the servants of this banquet. They summon, welcome, receive and distribute to all the bread broken and given by the Lord. The surplus is not put away (like the manna in Ex. 16,32) but it is what the disciples always have in reserve to give to all and forever. Unlike the manna that perishes, this never perishes. On the contrary, it has the power to preserve from death those who eat of it. In it the Lord wants and can finally reveal the mystery of love to the Father and to us. This Bread places us at the center of the Trinity, as children in the Son, and makes us like Him listeners of the Word of the Father that transfigures our faces. The centrepiece of this passage is the Word of the Last Supper. Now the presence of the God who satiates His people in the Exodus is replaced by Christ who breaks the Bread. The disciples' giving food to all, on the order of the Lord, echoes the "Do this in memory of me" (of every Eucharistic prayer in the unlimited gift of Consecration).
Church of Santa Maria Consolatrice, Sunday, 23 June 2019
Today, God’s word helps us to appreciate more deeply two verbs that are simple, yet essential for daily life: to speak and to give.
To speak. In the first reading, Melchizedek says: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High… and blessed be God Most High” (Gen 14:19-20). For Melchizedek, to speak is to bless. He blesses Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed (cf. Gen 12:3; Gal 3:8). Everything begins with blessing: words of goodness create a history of goodness. The same thing happens in the Gospel: before multiplying the loaves, Jesus blesses them: “Taking the five loaves, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples” (Lk 9:16). A blessing turns five loaves into food enough for a great crowd: the blessing releases a cascade of goodness.
Why is it good to bless? Because it turns a word into a gift. When we bless, we are not doing something for ourselves, but for others. Blessing is not about saying nice words or trite phrases. No, it is about speaking goodness, speaking with love. That is what Melchizedek did, when he spontaneously blessed Abram, who had not said or done anything for him. Jesus did the same thing, and he showed what the blessing meant by freely distributing the loaves. How many times too, have we been blessed, in church or in our homes? How many times have we received words of encouragement, or a sign of the cross on our forehead? We were blessed on the day of our baptism, and we are blessed at the end of every Mass. The Eucharist is itself a school of blessing. God blesses us, his beloved children, and thus encourages us to keep going. And we, in turn, bless God in our assemblies (cf. Ps 68:26), rediscovering the joy of praise that liberates and heals the heart. We come to Mass, certain that we will be blessed by the Lord, and we leave in order to bless others in turn, to be channels of goodness in the world.
-->This is also true for us: it is important for us pastors to keep blessing God’s people. Dear priests, do not be afraid to give a blessing, to bless the People of God. Dear priests, continue to bless: the Lord wants to bless his people; he is happy to make us feel his affection for us. Only as those who are themselves blessed, can we in turn bless others with that same anointing of love. It is sad to think of how easily people today do the opposite: they curse, despise and insult others. In the general frenzy, we lose control and vent our rage on everything and everyone. Sadly, those who shout most and loudest, those angriest, often appeal to others and persuade them. Let us avoid being infected by that arrogance; let us not let ourselves be overcome by bitterness, for we eat the Bread that contains all sweetness within it. God’s people love to praise, not complain; we were created to bless, not grumble. In the presence of the Eucharist, Jesus who becomes bread, this simple bread that contains the entire reality of the Church, let us learn to bless all that we have, to praise God, to bless and not curse all that has led us to this moment, and to speak words of encouragement to others.
The second verb is to give. “Speaking” is thus followed by “giving”. This was the case with Abraham who, after being blessed by Melchizedek, “gave him a tenth of everything” (Gen 14:20). It was the case, too, with Jesus who after reciting the blessing, gave the loaves to be distributed among the crowd. This tells us something very beautiful. Bread is not only something to be consumed; it is a means of sharing. Surprisingly, the account of the multiplication of the loaves does not mention the multiplication itself. On the contrary, the words that stand out are: “break”, “give” and “distribute” (cf. Lk 9:16). In effect, the emphasis is not on the multiplication but the act of sharing. This is important. Jesus does not perform a magic trick; he does not change five loaves into five thousand and then to announce: “There! Distribute them!” No. Jesus first prays, then blesses the five loaves and begins to break them, trusting in the Father. And those five loaves never run out. This is no magic trick; it is an act of trust in God and his providence.
In the world, we are always trying to increase our profits, to raise our income. But why? Is it to give, or to have? To share or to accumulate? The “economy” of the Gospel multiplies through sharing, nourishes through distributing. It does not sate the greed of a few, but gives life to the world (cf. Jn 6:33). The verb Jesus uses is not to have but to give. He tells his disciples straight out: “You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13). We can imagine the thoughts that went through their minds: “We don’t have enough bread for ourselves, and now we are supposed to think about others? Why do we have to give them something to eat, if they came to hear our Teacher? If they didn’t bring their own food, let them go back home, it’s their problem; or else give us some money to buy food”. This way of thinking is not wrong, but it isn’t the way Jesus thinks. He will have none of it: “You give them something to eat”. Whatever we have can bear fruit if we give it away – that is what Jesus wants to tell us – and it does not matter whether it is great or small. The Lord does great things with our littleness, as he did with the five loaves. He does not work spectacular miracles or wave a magic wand; he works with simple things. God’s omnipotence is lowly, made up of love alone. And love can accomplish great things with little. The Eucharist teaches us this: for there we find God himself contained in a piece of bread. Simple, essential, bread broken and shared, the Eucharist we receive allows us to see things as God does. It inspires us to give ourselves to others. It is the antidote to the mindset that says: “Sorry, that is not my problem”, or: “I have no time, I can’t help you, it’s none of my business”. Or that looks the other way…
-->In our city that hungers for love and care, that suffers from decay and neglect, that contains so many elderly people living alone, families in difficulty, young people struggling to earn their bread and to realize their dreams, the Lord says to each one of you: “You yourself give them something to eat”. You may answer: “But I have so little; I am not up to such things”. That is not true; your “little” has great value in the eyes of Jesus, provided that you don’t keep it to yourself, but put it in play. Put yourself in play! You are not alone, for you have the Eucharist, bread for the journey, the bread of Jesus. Tonight too, we will be nourished by his body given up for us. If we receive it into our hearts, this bread will release in us the power of love. We will feel blessed and loved, and we will want to bless and love in turn, beginning here, in our city, in the streets where we will process this evening. The Lord comes to our streets in order to speak a blessing for us and to give us courage. And he asks that we too be blessing and gift for others.
Reading I
RispondiEliminaGn 14:18-20
In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine,
and being a priest of God Most High,
he blessed Abram with these words:
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
the creator of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who delivered your foes into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4
R (4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Reading II
1 Cor 11:23-26
Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
Sequence
Lauda Sion
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law’s new oblation,
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne’er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow’r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That each sever’d outward token
doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.
Alleluia
RispondiEliminaJn 6:51
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Lk 9:11b-17
Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God,
and he healed those who needed to be cured.
As the day was drawing to a close,
the Twelve approached him and said,
"Dismiss the crowd
so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms
and find lodging and provisions;
for we are in a deserted place here."
He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."
They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have,
unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."
Now the men there numbered about five thousand.
Then he said to his disciples,
"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty."
They did so and made them all sit down.
Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And when the leftover fragments were picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.
FAUSTI - The daily experience of the Eucharist transfers us to the eighth day, the today of the transfiguration, because it makes us present to Lord's gift of eternal Love.
RispondiEliminaHis bread is our life and it enables us, like Elijah, to make the long journey of forty days until the mountain of God's revelation (1 Kings 19:8). The place where Jesus is recognized is not the curiosity of Herod, who wants to control and hold Him in his hand, but the fragrance of bread and the astonished wonder of the disciple who enjoys of it.
The breaking of bread is objective revelation of His love for me.
I remember it, I bring it to my heart, to the center of myself and I let myself be asked by it, trying to respond.
Faith is this dialogue that becomes common life, His love that becomes my bread and nourishes me.
Luke's reading of this strictly Christological banquet marks the point of arrival of the mission: the apostolic activity leads to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and has its "summit" and crowning in the Eucharist, which is also its "origin".
It is the foundation and also fulfilment of the Church , her beginning and her aim!
The story has as its background the expectation of the Messianic banquet in the desert, similar to that which God prepared for His people ( Is.25,6... Hos 11,4).
In the end He reveals Himself completely, He makes us enter into His mystery of death and resurrection, and He takes us with Himself in His journey to Jerusalem.
It is dance, which instead of mourning, now concludes human fatigue.
All verbs are aorist (precise action, once and for all),
"to take,
to raise the eyes,
to bless,
to break,
to give to the disciples,
to offer,
to eat and be full."
giving is to the imperfect: it began then and continues again and again in the hands of the disciples, who succeeded to the Twelve, who always distribute the only Bread that satisfies the hunger of every living person.
The whole Gospel is a commentary on these Words, a catechesis on the Eucharist, the arrival and the departure of the mission, the culmination and the source of Christian life.
It introduces every man into the mysteries of God, making him familiar with Him and making him a participant in the Father/Son dialogue, until (with announcement and Eucharist) God will be everything in everyone and His Glory will be witnessed to the ends of the earth.
It places those who celebrate it in the heart of the mystery of God, in the memory of His passion for us, in the anticipation of the Resurrection and in the expectation of His return.
The apostles, the Twelve, called later disciples, like those who will continue His work, are the servants of this banquet. They summon, welcome, receive and distribute to all the bread broken and given by the Lord.
The surplus is not put away (like the manna in Ex. 16,32) but it is what the disciples always have in reserve to give to all and forever.
Unlike the manna that perishes, this never perishes. On the contrary, it has the power to preserve from death those who eat of it. In it the Lord wants and can finally reveal the mystery of love to the Father and to us.
This Bread places us at the center of the Trinity, as children in the Son, and makes us like Him listeners of the Word of the Father that transfigures our faces.
The centrepiece of this passage is the Word of the Last Supper.
Now the presence of the God who satiates His people in the Exodus is replaced by Christ who breaks the Bread.
The disciples' giving food to all, on the order of the Lord, echoes the "Do this in memory of me" (of every Eucharistic prayer in the unlimited gift of Consecration).
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaChurch of Santa Maria Consolatrice,
Sunday, 23 June 2019
Today, God’s word helps us to appreciate more deeply two verbs that are simple, yet essential for daily life: to speak and to give.
To speak. In the first reading, Melchizedek says: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High… and blessed be God Most High” (Gen 14:19-20). For Melchizedek, to speak is to bless. He blesses Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed (cf. Gen 12:3; Gal 3:8). Everything begins with blessing: words of goodness create a history of goodness. The same thing happens in the Gospel: before multiplying the loaves, Jesus blesses them: “Taking the five loaves, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples” (Lk 9:16). A blessing turns five loaves into food enough for a great crowd: the blessing releases a cascade of goodness.
Why is it good to bless? Because it turns a word into a gift. When we bless, we are not doing something for ourselves, but for others. Blessing is not about saying nice words or trite phrases. No, it is about speaking goodness, speaking with love. That is what Melchizedek did, when he spontaneously blessed Abram, who had not said or done anything for him. Jesus did the same thing, and he showed what the blessing meant by freely distributing the loaves. How many times too, have we been blessed, in church or in our homes? How many times have we received words of encouragement, or a sign of the cross on our forehead? We were blessed on the day of our baptism, and we are blessed at the end of every Mass. The Eucharist is itself a school of blessing. God blesses us, his beloved children, and thus encourages us to keep going. And we, in turn, bless God in our assemblies (cf. Ps 68:26), rediscovering the joy of praise that liberates and heals the heart. We come to Mass, certain that we will be blessed by the Lord, and we leave in order to bless others in turn, to be channels of goodness in the world.
-->This is also true for us: it is important for us pastors to keep blessing God’s people. Dear priests, do not be afraid to give a blessing, to bless the People of God. Dear priests, continue to bless: the Lord wants to bless his people; he is happy to make us feel his affection for us. Only as those who are themselves blessed, can we in turn bless others with that same anointing of love. It is sad to think of how easily people today do the opposite: they curse, despise and insult others. In the general frenzy, we lose control and vent our rage on everything and everyone. Sadly, those who shout most and loudest, those angriest, often appeal to others and persuade them. Let us avoid being infected by that arrogance; let us not let ourselves be overcome by bitterness, for we eat the Bread that contains all sweetness within it. God’s people love to praise, not complain; we were created to bless, not grumble. In the presence of the Eucharist, Jesus who becomes bread, this simple bread that contains the entire reality of the Church, let us learn to bless all that we have, to praise God, to bless and not curse all that has led us to this moment, and to speak words of encouragement to others.
RispondiEliminaThe second verb is to give. “Speaking” is thus followed by “giving”. This was the case with Abraham who, after being blessed by Melchizedek, “gave him a tenth of everything” (Gen 14:20). It was the case, too, with Jesus who after reciting the blessing, gave the loaves to be distributed among the crowd. This tells us something very beautiful. Bread is not only something to be consumed; it is a means of sharing. Surprisingly, the account of the multiplication of the loaves does not mention the multiplication itself. On the contrary, the words that stand out are: “break”, “give” and “distribute” (cf. Lk 9:16). In effect, the emphasis is not on the multiplication but the act of sharing. This is important. Jesus does not perform a magic trick; he does not change five loaves into five thousand and then to announce: “There! Distribute them!” No. Jesus first prays, then blesses the five loaves and begins to break them, trusting in the Father. And those five loaves never run out. This is no magic trick; it is an act of trust in God and his providence.
In the world, we are always trying to increase our profits, to raise our income. But why? Is it to give, or to have? To share or to accumulate? The “economy” of the Gospel multiplies through sharing, nourishes through distributing. It does not sate the greed of a few, but gives life to the world (cf. Jn 6:33). The verb Jesus uses is not to have but to give.
He tells his disciples straight out: “You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13). We can imagine the thoughts that went through their minds: “We don’t have enough bread for ourselves, and now we are supposed to think about others? Why do we have to give them something to eat, if they came to hear our Teacher? If they didn’t bring their own food, let them go back home, it’s their problem; or else give us some money to buy food”. This way of thinking is not wrong, but it isn’t the way Jesus thinks. He will have none of it: “You give them something to eat”. Whatever we have can bear fruit if we give it away – that is what Jesus wants to tell us – and it does not matter whether it is great or small. The Lord does great things with our littleness, as he did with the five loaves. He does not work spectacular miracles or wave a magic wand; he works with simple things. God’s omnipotence is lowly, made up of love alone. And love can accomplish great things with little. The Eucharist teaches us this: for there we find God himself contained in a piece of bread. Simple, essential, bread broken and shared, the Eucharist we receive allows us to see things as God does. It inspires us to give ourselves to others. It is the antidote to the mindset that says: “Sorry, that is not my problem”, or: “I have no time, I can’t help you, it’s none of my business”. Or that looks the other way…
-->In our city that hungers for love and care, that suffers from decay and neglect, that contains so many elderly people living alone, families in difficulty, young people struggling to earn their bread and to realize their dreams, the Lord says to each one of you: “You yourself give them something to eat”. You may answer: “But I have so little; I am not up to such things”. That is not true; your “little” has great value in the eyes of Jesus, provided that you don’t keep it to yourself, but put it in play. Put yourself in play! You are not alone, for you have the Eucharist, bread for the journey, the bread of Jesus. Tonight too, we will be nourished by his body given up for us. If we receive it into our hearts, this bread will release in us the power of love. We will feel blessed and loved, and we will want to bless and love in turn, beginning here, in our city, in the streets where we will process this evening. The Lord comes to our streets in order to speak a blessing for us and to give us courage. And he asks that we too be blessing and gift for others.
RispondiElimina