Angelus for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pope Francis

Saint Peter's Square

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Today concludes our reading of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, with the discourse on the “Bread of Life,” spoken by Jesus the day after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. At the end of this discourse, the great enthusiasm of the previous day faded, for Jesus had said that he was the Bread that came down from heaven and that he would give his flesh as food and his blood as drink, thus clearly alluding to the sacrifice of his own life. These words disappointed the people, who judged them unworthy of the Messiah, not “winning.” This is how some viewed Jesus: as a Messiah who had to speak and act in such a way that his mission would be successful, immediately. But they were mistaken precisely on this point: on how to understand the mission of the Messiah! Even the disciples struggled to accept this unsettling language of the Master. And today’s passage recounts their unease: “This is a hard saying!” they said. “Who can listen to it?” (Jn 6:60). In reality, they understood Jesus' message perfectly well. So well, in fact, that they didn't want to hear it, because it challenged their way of thinking. Jesus' words always challenge us, for example, in the face of the spirit of the world, worldliness. But Jesus offers the key to overcoming these difficulties; a key made up of three elements. First, his divine origin : he descended from heaven and will ascend "to where he was before" (v. 62). Second: his words can only be understood through the action of the Holy Spirit . The one "who gives life" (v. 63) is precisely the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand Jesus clearly. Third: the real cause of the misunderstanding of his words is a lack of faith: "There are some among you who do not believe" (v. 64), says Jesus. Indeed, from that moment, says the Gospel, "many of his disciples went away" (v. 66). Faced with these disappointments, Jesus makes no concessions and does not soften his words; he even forces them to make a clear choice: to be with Him or to separate from Him, and he says to the Twelve: "Do you also want to leave?" (v. 67).

At this point, Peter makes his confession of faith on behalf of the other apostles: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68). He doesn’t ask, “Where shall we go?” but “To whom shall we go?” The fundamental issue isn’t leaving and abandoning the work already begun, but to whom shall we go. From Peter’s question, we understand that faithfulness to God is a matter of faithfulness to a person, with whom we are bound to walk together on the same path. And that person is Jesus. All that we possess in the world cannot satisfy our hunger for the infinite. We need Jesus, to be with Him, to be nourished at His table, by His words of eternal life! To believe in Jesus means making Him the center, the meaning of our lives. Christ is not an accessory: He is the “living bread,” the essential nourishment. To be bound to Him, in a true relationship of faith and love, does not mean being chained, but profoundly free, always on the journey. Each of us can ask ourselves: who is Jesus for me? Is it a name, an idea, merely a historical figure? Or is it truly this person who loves me and gave his life for me and walks with me? Who is Jesus for you? Are you with Jesus? Do you seek to know him in his word? Do you read the Gospel, a passage from the Gospel every day to get to know Jesus? Do you carry a small Gospel in your pocket, in your bag, to read it everywhere? For the more we are with Him, the greater our desire to remain with Him.

Now, I would ask you to please observe a minute of silence and for each of us, silently, in our hearts, to ask ourselves the question: "Who is Jesus for me?" In silence, let each of us answer in our hearts.

May the Virgin Mary help us to always "go" towards Jesus to experience the freedom He offers us, which allows us to cleanse our choices of worldly encrustations and our fears.