Pope Francis has prayed the Angelus with all the faithful present in St. Peter's Square. During the meditation, he reflected on the feast of the Corpus Christirecalling "the dimension of the gift" of the Eucharist.
Through the breaking of the bread, the Pontiff said, we see that "Jesus gave his whole life". This is why the celebration of the Eucharist cannot be "an act of worship detached from life or a mere moment of personal consolation".
On the contrary, the Pope stressed, at every Mass Catholics must be aware of their communion with Christ. This union "makes us capable of becoming bread broken for others, capable of sharing what we are and what we have".
To be "Eucharistic
In this sense, the Pope invited the faithful "to be 'Eucharistic', that is, people who no longer live for themselves". Francis asked Catholics to make "their lives a gift for others", becoming "prophets and builders of a new world".
To make this concrete in daily life, the Pontiff gave the example of daily occasions such as avoiding selfishness, promoting fraternity, accompanying our brothers and sisters in pain, caring for the needy and offering one's talents.
To conclude his meditation, the Pope posed several questions for personal reflection: "Do I keep my life for myself alone or do I give it away like Jesus? Do I spend myself for others or do I shut myself up in my own little self? And, in everyday situations, do I know how to share or do I always seek my own self-interest?"
Pope Francis calls for peace
At the end of the Angelus, the Holy Father asked for prayers for Sudan, "where the war that has been going on for more than a year has not yet found a peaceful solution". He also recalled "Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar...". Francis launched "an appeal to the wisdom of the rulers to stop the escalation and to put all their efforts into dialogue and negotiation".
Finally, he greeted pilgrims from Italy, Croatia and Madrid, as well as "the faithful of Bellizzi and Iglesias; the 'Luigi Padovese' Cultural Center of Cucciago; the postulants of the Daughters of the Oratory; and the group 'Pedalea por los que no pueden' (Pedal for those who cannot)".
