Francisco: He believes in love, in the power of service, in the power of perks

Mariangela Jagurapa – Vatican News

Pope Francis prayed the Marian Prayer to the Angels, this Sunday (25/07), the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, from the window of the papal apartment, with the faithful and pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square.

In the address before the prayer, Francis recalled the Gospel of the Liturgy this Sunday, which narrates the famous episode of the multiplication of loaves and fish, with which Jesus fed about five thousand people who came to hear him.

According to the Pope, “It is interesting to see how this miracle happens: Jesus does not make loaves and fish out of the air, but acts on what the disciples bring to Him. One says: ‘Here is a young man who has five barley loaves and two fish.’” But what is this for many people? “It is little, nothing,” said the pontiff, “but it is sufficient for Jesus.”

Great education for us

“Let’s now try to put ourselves in that young man’s shoes,” Francisco said, adding:

The students ask him to share everything he has to eat. It seems like an unreasonable proposition, in fact, an unfair one. Why is a person, especially a young man, deprived of what he brought from home and has the right to keep it for himself? Why take from someone not enough to feed everyone? Humanly, this does not make sense. But not for God’s sake. On the contrary, thanks to this small, free and therefore heroic gift, Jesus is able to feed everyone. This is a great education for us. He tells us that the Lord can do a lot with the little we give Him.

Then the Pope said that it is good to ask us every day: “What am I taking for Jesus today?” He stressed, “He can do much with our prayers, with a gesture of love toward others, even as we deliver our misery to His mercy. God loves to act like this: He does great things of small and free things.”

Jesus asks us to give and take away

Then Francis reminded that all the great heroes of the Bible, from Abraham to Mary, as well as the young man mentioned in today’s Gospel, show this logic of smallness and giving.

The logic of the gift is completely different from ours. We seek to accumulate and increase what we have. Instead, Jesus asks us to give, and to decrease. We like to add and we like to add. Jesus loves to pose, to take something to give to others. We want to multiply for ourselves. Jesus appreciates when we share with others, when we share. It is curious that in the accounts of the multiplication of loaves found in the Gospels, the verb “double” never appears. On the contrary, the verbs used have the opposite sign: “to break”, “to give”, “to distribute”. Jesus says, the true miracle is not the reproduction that produces glory and power, but division and sharing, which increases love and allows God to work miracles. Let’s share more: experience this path that Jesus taught us.

Starvation especially affects children

Francisco noted that, “Even today, the proliferation of commodities does not solve problems without fair sharing.”

The tragedy of famine, which particularly affects children, comes to mind. It is estimated that every day around 7,000 children under the age of five die from malnutrition worldwide. Because they don’t have what it takes to live. In the face of such scandals, Jesus also addresses us with a call, an invitation similar to the one we probably received from the young man in the Gospel, who has no name and we can all see each other: “Courage, give what little you have, your gifts and possessions, put them at the disposal of Jesus. And brothers. Do not be afraid, nothing will be lost, for if you participate, God will multiply. Get rid of the false humility of feeling incompetent and trusting. Believe in love, in the power of service, on the power of gratuities.

The Pope concluded his speech, asking “that the Virgin Mary, who answered ‘yes’ to God’s unprecedented proposal, help us open our hearts to the Lord’s calls and the needs of others.”