GENERAL
AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 17 August 2016
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26. Mercy as the instrument of Communion (cf Mt 14:13-21)
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today we wish to reflect upon the miracle of the
multiplication of the loaves. At the beginning of the narrative given by
Matthew (cf. 14:13-21), Jesus has just received word of the death of John the
Baptist, and he crosses the lake by boat in search of a “lonely place apart”
(v. 13). The people understand, however, and precede him on foot and thus, “as
he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed
their sick” (v. 14). That’s how Jesus is: always compassionate, always thinking
of others. The determination of the people — who fear being left alone, as if
abandoned — is striking. John the Baptist, the charismatic prophet, is dead;
[the crowd] trusts in Jesus, about whom John had said: “he who is coming after
me is mightier than I” (Mt 3:11). Thus the crowd follows him everywhere, to
listen to him and to bring him the sick. And seeing this, Jesus is moved. Jesus
is not cold, he does not have a cold heart. Jesus is capable of being moved. On
the one hand, he feels a bond with this crowd and does not want them to leave;
on the other, he needs a moment of solitude, of prayer, with the Father. Often
he spends the night praying to his Father.
Thus, that day too, the Master attends to the people.
His compassion is not a vague sentiment; instead he shows all the strength of
his will to be close to us and to save us. Jesus loves us so much and wants to
be close to us.
As evening falls, Jesus is concerned about feeding all
those tired and hungry people, and looks after those who follow him. He wants
his disciples to be involved in this. Indeed he says to them: “you give them
something to eat” (Mt 14:16). He shows them that the few loaves and fish
that they have, by the power of faith and of prayer, can be shared with all of
those people. Jesus works a miracle, but it is the miracle of faith, of prayer,
created by compassion and love. Thus, Jesus “broke and gave the loaves to
the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (v. 19). The Lord
meets the needs of mankind, but wants to render each one of us a concrete
participant in his compassion.
Now let us pause on this, Jesus’ gesture of blessing:
“taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and
blessed, and broke and gave the loaves” (v. 19). As you see, they are the
same signs that Jesus performed at the Last Supper; and they are also the same
gestures that each priest performs when he celebrates the Holy Eucharist. The
Christian community is born and reborn continually from this Eucharistic
communion. Living communion with Christ is therefore anything but being passive
and detached from daily life; on the contrary, it includes us more and more in
the relationship with the men and women of our time, in order to offer them the
concrete sign of mercy and of the attention of Christ. While we are nourished
by Christ, the Eucharist which we celebrate transforms us too, step by step,
into the Body of Christ and spiritual food for our brothers and sisters. Jesus
wants to reach everyone, in order to bring God’s love to all. For this reason
he makes every believer a servant of mercy. Jesus sees the crowd, feels
compassion for them and multiplies the loaves; thus he does the same with the
Eucharist. We believers who receive this Eucharistic bread are spurred by Jesus
to take this service to others, with his same compassion. This is the way.
The narrative of the multiplication of the loaves and
fish ends with the verification that everyone is satisfied and with the
collection of the leftover pieces (cf. v. 20).
When Jesus, with his compassion and his love, gives us
a grace, forgives us our sins, embraces us, loves us; he does nothing halfway
but completely. As it happens here: all are satisfied. Jesus fills our heart
and our life with his love, with his forgiveness, with his compassion. Thus,
Jesus allows his disciples to carry out his command. In this way they know the
path to follow: to feed the people and keep them united; that is, to be at
the service of life and of communion. Therefore, let us invoke the Lord,
that he always make his Church capable of this holy service, and that each one
of us may be an instrument of communion in our own family, at work, in the
parish and the groups we belong to, a visible sign of the mercy of God who does
not want to leave anyone in loneliness and in need, so that communion and peace
may descend among mankind and the communion of mankind with God, because this
communion is life for all.
Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors
taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from Ireland, Sweden,
Ghana, Nigeria, China and the United States of America. With prayerful good
wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and
spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and
peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, I address the young people, the
sick and newlyweds. The Solemnity of the Assumption which
we celebrated some days ago, called us to live with commitment the journey of
this world constantly focused on eternal goods.
Dear young people, in building your future
always place Christ’s call at the first place. May you, dear sick
people, have in your suffering the comfort of the maternal presence of
Mary, sign of hope. To you, dear newlyweds, I wish that your love
may reflect the infinite and eternal love of God.
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