(Mk 16:15-20)

 

The premises of today's passage are not entirely edifying: Jesus rebukes the Eleven for not believing.

They have resisted stubbornly because they cultivated contrary expectations.

Adherence to the Risen One was uncertain even on the part of those who knew Him personally and lived with Him.

Despite this, God considers only obstinacy to be guilty.

The Message to be proclaimed and personally adhered to is so unusual that at first it may create reluctance and skepticism - as it was even among the apostles, leaders of the nascent Church.

They too were weak and uncertain followers who were made convinced, stronger and more decisive, in the experience of interpersonal communion [described in filigree in the same mandate (vv.17-18)].

 

Sharing within a vital fraternity produced a growing afflatus.

On the wave of this energy chain, each Seed became consciousness that gradually learnt to respond to its call and not be disturbed by poisons.

This recognition of the divine Presence in his new Face was revealed and poured out on the marginalized and the sick - the minimal and imperfect previously considered in religions to be punished by fate or even cursed by God.

The atmosphere of friendship and understanding that had supplanted social and spiritual antagonism, and the feeling of being welcomed even in precarious conditions, favoured every care, every expression of gratuitousness.

Christ has thus continued to unfold his work in history, making himself alive in the human and divine people who bear witness to Him. His influence and triumph - victorious everywhere over the germs of death.

His sole 'power'.

 

In every person or group there are decisive events, stages of regeneration and new birth.

Mk attempts to describe the change in Jesus' Presence, which continues to guide the disciples step by step even in the first hesitations following His inglorious death.

The mission seemed not precisely defined [as vice versa in ancient religious ideologies] and superior to the forces at work.

By His inspiration and power, Christ wanted to remain forever present in his disciples, manifesting Himself alive in the signs mentioned in the text.

They are not demonstrative prodigies - although since the end of the 2nd century, apologetic frenzy has wanted to impose itself on the narrative of Faith, and we too have unfortunately inherited it.

The Proclamation is accompanied by the new language of love and by its wonders, which however are not clear evidences, but a ‘glad tidings’:

The Spirit of the living Christ in the Church is bringing about another kingdom.

 

The statement in v.19 is also theological: the image recalls the customs of Eastern courts.

Here it is useful to express God's inverse judgement of the Son's earthly defeat - and of His own intimates.

The concluding verse finally testifies to the disciples' conviction that they have the Lord beside them, that they are not alone and orphaned.

In this way and in the Spirit of genuine selflessness, the Resurrection has become a fact that spans time, right up to today.

Intimate Mystery and Wonder, our 'breath' and impetus - that the world may be a place conducive to the fullness of life for all.

 

 

[St Mark the Apostle and Evangelist, April 25]

Mk 16:15-20 (9-20)

 

The unthinkable news to the contrary, and the unbelief of the Apostles

(Mk 16:9-15)

 

"How universal is the great Way! He can be on the left as well as the right" [Tao Tê Ching (xxxiv)].

 

Despite their difficulty in believing, the disciples are made heralds of the News of God.

Glad tidings favourable to mankind that intends to journey towards itself - without the baggage of the overwhelming accumulations of tradition, or the conditioning of fashions.

Jesus brings out the transmutative capacities already in the dowry of each one, for communion with God and one's brothers and sisters, in the journey of life and the sense of rebirth that lurks therein.

His Person and vicissitude teaches us that all this develops after pain, travails, experiences of rejection, thoughts of failure and death ... [for us today, also in reference to new arrangements, or global crises, war, health emergency].

In such a seemingly inverted perspective, his proposal supplants the oppressive yoke of the external perfections preached by religion; replaced by our own simple family virtues, grasped from within.

Not: proselytising, setting up, fighting, but 'welcoming'. Not to 'obey' God, but to 'resemble' Him by being oneself; so on.

 

The Church should not have become an ethical communion of heroes and saints, but of sinners and undecideds.

Indeed, the story of the unbelieving apostles comforts us: we are already empowered, and with aptitude for fullness. But in its reversal.

It is the resurrection that sends us among men, precisely to be regenerated; just like us.

So the condition of the 'apostle' weaves its roots into the little by little of concrete existence.

It is not subjected to the usual doctrinal, moral, devotional rigmarole of great things; it is no longer delayed in being assumed.

Despite the fact that self-belief remains fragile, we continually experience regeneration from our wreckage - at best still bringing the entire organism of the spirit, and the inner universe, into being.

All this shapes a different consciousness of inadequacy: the one in the Faith - only positive, which understands the brothers and knows how to justify the resistance to the Announcement.

For it is in the recovery of surprises, opposites and contradictions that we have become - in our own - experts in difficulty.

In this way, more able to perceive discomfort; even feeling drained - as a preparatory energetic state.

Then we have learnt the listening to emotions: even the feeling of being overwhelmed - even in ideas.

As well as the need to grasp or lose oneself in sorrows, even unbearable ones.

And not fearing solitude, the key to accessing the treasures of one's own eccentricity and Calling by Name.

 

In short, for the purpose of vocational fulfilment, everyone is already perfect.

In its bearer of dissimilar energies, it just has to learn to meet the sides of itself that it has not yet given space to.

As if within us we have a multiplicity of 'faces' - often all to be discovered, behind some shell that resists.

They are malleable energies, powers, other arrangements; occasions that complement, and infallibly lead to personal and social blossoming.

Here we pass from death-resurrection experience to true witness, in the spontaneous frankness of having been enabled as evangelisers.

Which surprises us. But now the Message makes a body with ourselves.

A call for peace, however explosive - unbelievable, and we see this more from the limits (now nothing to fear) than from the ability to set up cathedrals and showcases.

After Christ, one no longer has to 'improve' in the common sense.

There is no waiting and purpose à la page, or looking to and drinking from the fountain of the past. They then place us in the same predictable situation as always.

For the shaky disciples, religion was self-denial at its core.

Conversely, the vocation became the development of what each person was in his or her innermost being, and had not given himself or herself: the path of self-realisation in contributing to the brothers.

The only convincing weapon is genuineness: frankness that burns within to make us unconscious and incomplete, yet living, shrines.

Only way to meet souls.

 

The churches of the first generation were small realities lost in the immensity of the empire. Minimal communities 'in the midst' of the vastness of a world marked by different principles.

Popular fraternities animated by a passion that made them a visible witness and manifestation of the life of the Risen One.

The spirit of the origins was the only proof and possibility of recognition of Christ.

Then, to defend themselves against criticism, lists of 'apparitions' began to appear, but only from the second generation of believers.

Does it no longer appear today? No, he still manifests himself in his people.

This is the whole game.

The difficulty in accepting the convincing signs of the Presence of Jesus and his own Spirit can be overcome.Not with organisation, which weakens uniqueness. There is no living here. Not with perfectionism, which boycotts the expression of our qualities.

But through the conviviality of differences, and by announcing "to all" the "good news" (v.15) that the Lord goes beyond the experience of what is already known.

"Go": if one does not do Exodus, one does not unleash the Spirit. We must not lose ourselves in the search for external consensus.

It is within a non-selective Path that we learn to transform our discomforts into valuable resources to face the future.

The Good News to be proclaimed is: the Father is loving; he wants to care.

Exactly the opposite of what the false leaders of both Judaism and any culture of the empire preached.

Not a leech God who depersonalises; conversely, a Father who gives.

Not the God of religion, who waits for the reckoning. For he accentuates transmutations.

He is the Root of Being and the Founding Relation. Gift that ceaselessly comes to activate the exuberance of flourishing.

Not a grey Lawgiver and compassionate Judge, who imposes rules or punishes - to keep everyone in check.

The Eternal One invites and transmits his own surplus - even discordant - to merge, and dilate aspects, resources, dissimilar faces. Possibility of realisation for each one.

Unthinkable, before Jesus.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

How do you overcome doubt, retreating? What do you announce with your life? Does it go beyond direct experience? Do you know realities that manifest the Risen One? How do you point out exuberant paths of hope? Or are you selective and silent?

 

 

Go into all the world and proclaim with Him

(Mk 16:15-20)

 

The appendix of Mark (16:9-20) presents some manifestations of the Risen One and the assumption into heaven.

It is the so-called Ascension (v.19) or the Passover of Christ according to the Semitic category of royal enthronement.

The text reflects a charismatic environment that suggests a very primitive community, less configured than in other Gospels [less articulated in: leaders, tasks, discipleship, liturgical signs, and discipline].

The premise of today's passage is not entirely edifying: Jesus rebukes the Eleven for not believing.

They have historically resisted stubbornly because they cultivated contrary expectations.

Mk insists.

The transmission of the Faith does indeed pass through particular and prophetic figures. It spreads through very small fraternities with particular sensitivities. But even the least critical witnesses are not to be discouraged.

Adherence to the Risen One was uncertain even by those who knew him personally and lived with him.

Despite this, God only considers obstinacy guilty.

The Message to be announced and adhered to in the first person is so unusual that at first it can create reluctance and scepticism - as was even the case among the apostles, leaders of the nascent Church.

They too were weak and uncertain who were made convinced, stronger and more decisive, by Gift; in the experience of interpersonal communion, described in filigree in the same mandate (vv.17-18).

Sharing within a vital fraternity has however produced new perceptions - more rooted in being - and a growing afflatus.

Thus on the wave like an energy chain, each Seed has become aware that it has gradually learnt to respond to his call and not be disturbed by poisons.

This recognition of the divine Presence in his new Face was revealed and poured out on the marginalised and the sick - the lowly and imperfect previously considered in religions to be punished by fate or even cursed by God.

The atmosphere of friendship and understanding that had supplanted social and spiritual antagonism, and the feeling of being welcomed even in precarious conditions, favoured every care, every expression of gratuitousness.

Christ has thus continued to unfold his work in history, making himself alive in the human and divine people who bear witness to him. His influence and triumph - victorious everywhere over the germs of death.

His only "power".

 

In every person or group there are decisive events, stages of regeneration and new birth.

Mk attempts to describe the change in Jesus' presence, which continues to guide the disciples step by step even in the first hesitations following his inglorious death.

The mission seemed not precisely defined [as vice versa in religious ideologies] and superior to the forces at work.

By his inspiration and power, Christ wanted to remain forever present in his disciples, manifesting himself alive in the signs mentioned in the text.

They are not demonstrative prodigies - although since the end of the 2nd century apologetic eagerness has wanted to impose itself on the narrative of faith, and we too have unfortunately inherited it.The Announcement is accompanied by the new language of love and its wonders:

The Spirit of the living Christ in the Church is bringing about another kingdom.

 

The statement in v.19 is also theological. The image recalls the customs of the Eastern courts.

Here it is useful to express God's inverse judgement of the Son's earthly defeat - and of His own.

Then, the concluding verse of the Gospel according to Mark finally testifies to the disciples' conviction that they have the Lord beside them, that they are not alone and orphaned.

 

In this way and in the Spirit of genuine selflessness, the Resurrection has become a fact that spans time, right up to today.

Intimate mystery and wonder, our 'breath' and impetus - so that the world may be a favourable place for the fullness of life for all.

 

 

Humble for great things: salus animarum vs salus idearum

 

Magnanimity in humility. This is the way of life of the Christian who really wants to be a witness to the gospel to the ends of the earth. The contours of this way of being "missionaries in the Church" were outlined by Pope Francis this morning, Thursday 25 April, during the now customary celebration of Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae [...].

As always, the Pontiff commented on the day's readings, taken from the first letter of St Peter (5:5-14) and from the Gospel of Mark (16:15-20). "Jesus, before ascending to heaven, sends the apostles to evangelise, to preach the kingdom. He sends them to the end of the world. "Go into the whole world," he began. And he went on to emphasise the universality of the Church's mission, highlighting the fact that Jesus does not tell the apostles to go to Jerusalem or Galilee, but sends them all over the world. Thus, it opens up a great horizon. From this we can understand the true dimension of the 'missionary nature of the Church', which goes forth preaching 'to the whole world. But,' the Pope warned, 'she does not go alone; she goes with Jesus'.

So the apostles went out and preached everywhere. But "the Lord," he pointed out, "worked together with them. The Lord works with all those who preach the Gospel. This is the magnanimity that Christians must have. A pusillanimous Christian cannot be understood. This magnanimity is proper to the Christian vocation: always more, always more; always ahead'.

However,' he warned, 'something can also happen 'that is not so Christian'. At that point, "how are we to go forward? What is the style that Jesus wants for his disciples in the preaching of the Gospel, in this missionary work?" the Pontiff asked himself. And he indicated the answer in the text of St Peter, who "explains this style a little: 'Beloved, clothe yourselves with humility, one to another, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. The style of evangelical preaching goes on this attitude, humility, service, charity, fraternal love'.

The Pope then imagined the possible objection of a Christian before the Lord who proposes this style: "But Lord, we must conquer the world!". And he showed what is wrong with this attitude: 'This word, "conquer", does not go. We must preach in the world. The Christian must not be like the soldiers who, when they win the battle, sweep everything away".

At this point, Pope Francis referred to a medieval text in which it is told that the Christians, after winning a battle and conquering a city, lined up all the pagans and lined them up between the baptistery and the sword, forcing them to choose: the water, that is baptism, or the weapon, that is death. And he affirmed: "This is not the Christian's style. Its style is that of Jesus, humble'.

The Christian,' he explained, 'preaches, announces the Gospel with his testimony more than with words. A wise bishop from Italy said to me a few days ago: 'Sometimes we get confused and think that our evangelical preaching must be a salus idearum and not a salus animarum, the health of ideas and not the health of souls. But how does one get to the health of souls? With humility, with charity. St Thomas has a beautiful phrase on this: 'It is like going towards that horizon that never ends because it is always a horizon'. So how do we proceed with this Christian attitude? He says do not be afraid of great things. By going forward, taking into account even the small things. This is divine. It is like a tension between the great and the small; both, this is Christian. Christian missionary work, the preaching of the Gospel of the Church, goes this way'.

The confirmation is in Mark's gospel. The Pope noted it: 'You cannot proceed in any other way. And in the Gospel, at the end, there is a beautiful sentence when it says that Jesus acted together with them and 'confirmed the word with the signs that accompanied it'. When we go with this magnanimity and also with this humility, when we are not afraid of the big things, of this horizon, but we also take on the small things, such as humility and daily charity, the Lord confirms the Word and we go forward. The triumph of the Church is the resurrection of Jesus. There is the cross first".

"Let us ask the Lord today," he concluded, "to become missionaries in the Church, apostles in the Church, but with this spirit: great magnanimity and also great humility".

(Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 26/04/2013)

 

 

The Victory of the Risen One is his People, in the care of creation

 

[Gospel of the Conversion of St Paul].

(Mk 16:15-18)

 

Paul - who is us - manages to free himself from the fetters of subservience to an antiquated and selective religion. He discovers the joy of living.

Strict tradition is supplanted, along with all its false and empty ideal of perfection (individualist or circle).

He sees opportunity, fully. He encounters and intuits the best, which persuades him to throw himself into the risk of a life of Faith.

He recognises the Love that well disposes, humanises, intimately convinces because it recovers, reintegrates and makes differences and opposites convivial.

Here he discovers the authentic divine trait. Qualities that surpass the pharisaic - only sterilising - purity norms he had hastily adhered to.

All this dismantles him, makes him experience another Kingdom, which conveys a different Vision - with no more impossible conditions of indefectibility.

The fraternal experience of the Lord's intimates compels him: he feels he must collapse from the empyrean in which he had placed himself.

He falls not from his horse, but from the artificial pedestals of inherited belief - which did not encourage him to grow, from within.

He experiences the active dynamics of a grace that does not overpower; undeserved and prevenient - that takes the first step.

He finds it in his own lacerated inner life, and in the attentive, hospitable character of the first communities: he is fascinated by them.

 

Of course, the sudden 'conversion' can affect him in turn in a way that is just as radical, passionate... and opposite to the 'starchy' choices.

The excessive, dizzying sense - perhaps otherwise one-sided, 'reformers' - can be typical of reversals from the previous plastered conformity.

And it can again become one-sided.

But indeed, as a sign of his Presence, Jesus left a free spirit.

Not vintage catwalks, nor festivals. Not even fantasies of an abstract, cerebral, disembodied world.

Not a fixed ideology, nor a relic - or particularly dedicated places and times.

In such openness, which unleashes the Spirit, we all recognise ourselves today.

Namely: in the spirit of the Exodus and in the adventurous afflatus of the Apostle of the Gentiles, who everywhere and to everyone proposed the Risen One.

He is truly Living in the work of his People who evangelise without ceasing or fence (v.15) - but to the extent that they leap from the idol of distinction to the conviviality of differences.

From oppositions and reversals, to Communion. Which is not a torrent in flood, nor a shouted attitude, because it makes room for better understanding, valuing other points of view.

 

The task appears grandiose and would seem to be beyond our strength, but in the meantime we can initiate a new atmosphere by living in a less distracted manner; precisely, by proclaiming "to every creature" (v.15).

The expression contains the invitation to open the horizons of salvation also to the whole of creation - of which we are not the masters.

After decades of land plundering and just as the world of devotions has moved on indifferently, perhaps we are beginning to understand that God is calling us to be custodians, not predators.

[Called to a totally different quality of relationship from the opportunist one we had before our eyes and perhaps helped to perpetrate - just while the churches were still packed, drowsing consciences, as well as many vital energies].

In short, the Risen One activates a new way, place and time: both to meet ourselves and people, and plants and animals.

 

The proclamation of Salvation that we are invited to proclaim continues with other very practical "signs" and messages, which, however, have nothing to do with competing with magicians and soothsayers (vv.17-18).

Unfortunately, the sense of these lines interpreted by ear risks locking the crowds into that misunderstanding that can insinuate a whole way of thinking and a style anchored to the torment of conventional spirituality, empty of content and incisiveness.

In fact, we are still passionate about the search for visions, demonstrative wonders and religion-show phenomena.

We have behind us a corpus of history that, from the second century onwards, has sought to impose an apologetic conception of 'miracles': utterly cheap shots of lightning and today grounds for righteous rejection.In essence, the "preaching of the Gospel" is not about grim things, or about exceptionalities (though plausible here and there).

Rather, it is a work of wide-ranging humanisation, thanks to which people abandon the aggressive and dangerous aspect of their nature.

This happens to this day, in favour of encounter and dialogue.

The forces of self-destruction and death are driven out - not by punctual, lightning prodigy, but by a process of content assimilation, strong friendship, exodus, and realisation.

 

Often the spiritual accompaniment of the Word and of an authentic community help people to free themselves from the obsessions of unworthiness that block life - and thus to discover personality sides and unexpressed powers.

As a commentary on the Tao Tê Ching (XLVII), Master Ho-shang Kung writes: 'The saint [...] from his own person knows the person of others, from his own family knows the family of others: from these he looks at the world'.

A completely new language blossoms in such a climate: that of welcoming and sensitive listening, the first step towards a new communication.

For example, it allows us to shift our gaze, to acquire knowledge, to get to know people we had not imagined, to frequent other regions and cultures; and so on.

The 'poisons' - even those that are not easy to identify - are rendered harmless, not because we pass over them and pretend they do not exist. We are not called to be disassociated.

He simply takes note of his own vocational character and the varied inclinations of others. Nothing that is human is only 'lethal' (v.18).

 

Thus - by letting everyone follow their own nature - we become mutually tolerant and richer, improving coexistence; without hysteria or mannerisms.

On such a vital wave, unparalleled attention to the weak, the sick, the marginalised can appear everywhere.

A wise natural attitude of caring for the least, no longer forced or imposed, but spontaneous and forthright.

Quite naturally, it is precisely the weak who are now enabled to become the centre of the family, of groups, of ministerial activity.

An institution of service, the new Church; which gradually expunges the dirigiste model of the large and self-sufficient.

In this way, our divine DNA manifests itself when we achieve impossible recoveries.

In short, we are the bearers of a force capable of recreating women and men - even desperate ones who have lost energy and self-esteem.

 

From the very beginnings, in a practical, de facto ecumenical and inter-religious style, no particular denominational affiliation has been able to annihilate the spirit of convocation and coexistence, innate in humanity in search.

In concrete terms, the Lord's proposal has always left room for singular contributions, for even instinctive powers and images, for inner struggles - not denigrated at the outset as in religions.

The Risen One has manifested and expressed himself through the Mission of his lovable Community, a place favourable to the exchange of gifts; to the settlement of distances, to profound happiness.

This was His own way of revealing the Father's Love to the world - without excessive proclamation - and remaining close to us.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

What are the signs of new life that you have been able and willing to receive, assimilate, put into action, and which correspond most to you?

 

 

Crossing cultural and religious boundaries

 

"Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15); "make disciples of all nations", says the Lord (Mt 28:19). With these words Jesus sends the Apostles to all creatures, so that God's saving action may reach everywhere. But if we look at the moment of Jesus' ascension into heaven, narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the disciples are still locked in their vision, thinking about the restoration of a new Davidic kingdom, and they ask the Lord, "is this the time when you will restore the kingdom for Israel?" (Acts 1:6). And how does Jesus respond? He responds by opening their horizons and giving them a promise and a task: he promises that they will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and gives them the task of witnessing to him throughout the world, going beyond the cultural and religious boundaries within which they were accustomed to think and live, to open themselves to the universal Kingdom of God. And at the beginning of the Church's journey, the Apostles and disciples set out without any human security, but with the sole strength of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel and faith. It is the ferment that spreads throughout the world, it enters into the different events and multiple cultural and social contexts, but it remains a single Church. Christian communities flourish around the Apostles, but they are 'the' Church, which, in Jerusalem, Antioch or Rome, is always the same, one and universal. And when the Apostles speak of the Church, they do not speak of their own community, they speak of the Church of Christ, and they insist on this unique, universal and total identity of the Catholica, which is realised in each local Church. The Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic, reflecting in herself the source of her life and her journey: the unity and communion of the Trinity.

(Pope Benedict, address to the consistory 24 November 2012)

 

Faith that is not quiet.

Transmitted not to convince but to offer a treasure

 

St Mark, one of the four evangelists, is very close to the Apostle Peter. The Gospel of Mark was the first to be written. It is simple, a simple style, very close [...].

And in the Gospel we read now - which is the end of Mark's Gospel - there is the sending of the Lord. The Lord revealed himself as saviour, as the only Son of God; he revealed himself to all Israel, to the people, especially in more detail to the apostles, to the disciples. This is the Lord's farewell, the Lord is leaving: he departed and 'was lifted up into heaven and seated at the right hand of God' (Mk 16:19). But before he left, when he appeared to the Eleven, he said to them: 'Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature' (Mk 16:15). There is the missionary nature of faith. Faith is either missionary or it is not faith. Faith is not just something for me to grow by faith: that is a Gnostic heresy. Faith always leads you out of yourself. Going out. The transmission of faith; faith is to be transmitted, it is to be offered, above all by witness: "Go, that people may see how you live" (cf. v. 15).

Someone said to me, a European priest, from a European city: 'There is so much unbelief, so much agnosticism in our cities, because Christians do not have faith. If they had it, they would surely give it to people'. Missionary outreach is missing. Because at root there is a lack of conviction: 'Yes, I am Christian, I am Catholic...'. As if it were a social attitude. On the identity card you call yourself so-and-so and 'I am a Christian'. It is a given on the identity card. This is not faith! This is a cultural thing. Faith necessarily takes you out, leads you to give it: because faith essentially has to be transmitted. It's not quiet. "Ah, you mean, Father, that we must all be missionaries and go to distant countries?" No, this is a part of missionary work. This means that if you have faith you necessarily have to go outside yourself, and make faith seen socially. Faith is social, it is for everyone: "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature" (v. 15). And that doesn't mean proselytising, like I'm a proselytising football team, or I'm a charitable society. No, faith is "no proselytism". It is making revelation seen, so that the Holy Spirit can act in people through witnessing: as a witness, with service. Service is a way of life. If I say that I am a Christian and live like a pagan, it is no good! That doesn't convince anyone. If I say I am a Christian and I live as a Christian, that attracts. It is witnessing.

Once, in Poland, a university student asked me: 'In the university I have many fellow atheists. What do I have to tell them to convince them?" - "Nothing, dear, nothing! The last thing you have to do is say something. Start living, and they, seeing your testimony, will ask: 'But why do you live like this?'". Faith must be transmitted: not to convince, but to offer a treasure. "It is there, you see." And this is also the humility of which St Peter spoke in the First Reading: 'Beloved, clothe yourselves all with humility towards one another, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (1 Peter 5:5). How many times in the Church, in history, have there been movements, aggregations, of men or women who wanted to convince of the faith, to convert... True 'proselytists'. And how did they end up? In corruption.

So tender is this Gospel passage! But where is the security? How can I be sure that by going out I will be fruitful in the transmission of the faith? "Proclaim the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15), do wonders (cf. vv. 17-18). And the Lord will be with us until the end of the world. It accompanies us. In the transmission of faith, there is always the Lord with us. In the transmission of ideology there will be teachers, but when I have an attitude of faith that must be transmitted, there is the Lord there to accompany me. Never, in the transmission of the faith, am I alone. It is the Lord with me who transmits the faith. He has promised: "I will be with you all days until the end of the world" (cf. Mt 28:20).

Let us pray to the Lord to help us live our faith in this way: faith from open doors, a transparent faith, not 'proselytising', but one that shows: 'This is who I am'. And with this healthy curiosity, you help people to receive this message that will save them.

(Pope Francis, s. Marta homily 25 April 2020)

 

 

To sum up, to internalise and live the message:

 

How do you overcome doubt, withdrawing? What do you announce with your life? Does it go beyond direct experience? Do you know realities that manifest the Risen One? How do you point out exuberant paths of hope? Or are you selective and silent?

What prodigies of salvation have you experienced? What inexplicable recoveries have you made with Jesus? Beyond the uncertainties, do you glimpse the Lord who builds his kingdom? What is your different way of being close to you?

What signs of new life have you been able to receive, assimilate, put into action, and do they most correspond to you?

Jesus sent his disciples forth on mission with this command: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:15-16). To evangelize means to bring the Good News of salvation to others and to let them know that this Good News is a person: Jesus Christ. When I meet him, when I discover how much I am loved by God and saved by God, I begin to feel not only the desire, but also the need to make God known to others. At the beginning of John’s Gospel we see how Andrew, immediately after he met Jesus, ran off to fetch his brother Simon (cf. 1:40-42). Evangelization always begins with an encounter with the Lord Jesus. Those who come to Jesus and have experienced his love, immediately want to share the beauty of the meeting and the joy born of his friendship. The more we know Christ, the more we want to talk about him. The more we speak with Christ, the more we want to speak about him. The more we are won over by Christ, the more we want to draw others to him.

Through Baptism, which brings us to new life, the Holy Spirit abides in us and inflames our minds and hearts. The Spirit shows us how to know God and to enter into ever deeper friendship with Christ. It is the Spirit who encourages us to do good, to serve others and to give of ourselves. Through Confirmation we are strengthened by the gifts of the Spirit so that we can bear witness to the Gospel in an increasingly mature way. It is the Spirit of love, therefore, who is the driving force behind our mission. The Spirit impels us to go out from ourselves and to “go forth” to evangelize. Dear young people, allow yourselves to be led on by the power of God’s love. Let that love overcome the tendency to remain enclosed in your own world with your own problems and your own habits. Have the courage to “go out” from yourselves in order to “go forth” towards others and to show them the way to an encounter with God.

4. Gather all nations

The risen Christ sent his disciples forth to bear witness to his saving presence before all the nations, because God in his superabundant love wants everyone to be saved and no one to be lost. By his loving sacrifice on the cross, Jesus opened up the way for every man and woman to come to know God and enter into a communion of love with him. He formed a community of disciples to bring the saving message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to reach men and women in every time and place. Let us make God’s desire our own!

Dear friends, open your eyes and look around you. So many young people no longer see any meaning in their lives. Go forth! Christ needs you too. Let yourselves be caught up and drawn along by his love. Be at the service of this immense love, so it can reach out to everyone, especially to those “far away”. Some people are far away geographically, but others are far away because their way of life has no place for God. Some people have not yet personally received the Gospel, while others have been given it, but live as if God did not exist. Let us open our hearts to everyone. Let us enter into conversation in simplicity and respect. If this conversation is held in true friendship, it will bear fruit. The “nations” that we are invited to reach out to are not only other countries in the world. They are also the different areas of our lives, such as our families, communities, places of study and work, groups of friends and places where we spend our free time. The joyful proclamation of the Gospel is meant for all the areas of our lives, without exception.

[Pope Benedict, Message for the XXVIII WYD 2013]

2. The new discovery of Christ - when it is authentic - always directly results in the desire to bring Him to others, that is, in a commitment to the apostolate. This, precisely, is the second guideline for the next Youth Day.

To the whole Church is addressed Christ's соmmаnd: "Gо оut tо the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation" (Mk 16:15). The whole Church, therefore, is missionary and evangelizing; she lives constantly in a state of mission (cfr. Decree Ad Gentes, n. 2). To be Christians means to be missionaries, to be apostles (cfr. Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem, n. 2). It is not enough to discover Christ - you must bring Him to others!

The world of today is one great mission land, even in countries of long-standing Christian tradition. Everywhere today neopaganism and the process of secularization present a great challenge to the message of the Gospel. But, at the same time, there are new openings in our day for the proclamation of the Good News. We see, for example, a growing nostalgia for the sacred, for genuine values, for prayer. Аnd so, today's world needs many apostles - especially apostles who are young and courageous. You young people have in a special way the task of witnessing today to the faith; the commitment to bring the Gospel of Christ - the Way, the Truth and the Life - into the third Christian Millennium, to build a new civilization - a civilization of love, of justice and of peace.

Each new generation needs new apostles. This means a special mission for you. You young people are the first apostles and evangelizers of the world of youth, assailed today by so many challenges and so much that is threatening (cfr. Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem, n. 12). Above all, you can be evangelizers, and no one can take your place, where уоu study, and in your work and your free time. So many of those of your own age do not know Christ, or do not know Him well enough. So you cannot remain silent and indifferent! You must have the courage to speak about Christ, to bear witness to your faith through a life-style inspired by the Gospel. St Paul wrote: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" (1Cor 9:16). The harvest is great indeed for evangelization and so many workers are needed. Christ trusts you and counts on your collaboration. On the occasion of the forthcoming Youth Day, I invite you, therefore, to renew уоur apostolic commitment. Christ needs you! Respond to his call with courage and with the enthusiasm that belongs to your age.

[Pope John Paul II, Message for the IV WYD]

Magnanimity in humility. This is the lifestyle of the Christian who truly wants to be a witness to the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The contours of this way of being "missionaries in the Church" were outlined by Pope Francis, this morning, Thursday 25 April, during the now customary celebration of Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

[...] As always, the Pontiff commented on the readings of the day, taken from the First Letter of St Peter (5:5-14) and from the Gospel of Mark (16:15-20). "Jesus, before ascending to heaven, sends the apostles to evangelise, to preach the kingdom. He sends them to the end of the world. "Go into the whole world," he began. And he went on to emphasise the universality of the Church's mission, highlighting the fact that Jesus does not tell the apostles to go to Jerusalem or Galilee, but sends them all over the world. Thus, it opens up a great horizon. From this we can understand the true dimension of the 'missionary nature of the Church', which goes forth preaching 'to the whole world. But,' the Pope warned, 'she does not go alone; she goes with Jesus'.

So the apostles went out and preached everywhere. But "the Lord," he pointed out, "worked together with them. The Lord works with all those who preach the Gospel. This is the magnanimity that Christians must have. A pusillanimous Christian cannot be understood. This magnanimity is proper to the Christian vocation: always more, always more; always ahead'.

However,' he warned, 'something can also happen 'that is not so Christian'. At that point, "how are we to go forward? What is the style that Jesus wants for his disciples in the preaching of the Gospel, in this missionary work?" the Pontiff asked himself. And he indicated the answer in the text of St Peter, who "explains this style a little: 'Beloved, clothe yourselves with humility, one to another, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. The style of evangelical preaching goes on this attitude, humility, service, charity, fraternal love'.

The Pope then imagined the possible objection of a Christian before the Lord who proposes this style: "But Lord, we must conquer the world!". And he showed what is wrong with this attitude: 'This word, "conquer", does not go. We must preach in the world. The Christian must not be like the soldiers who, when they win the battle, sweep everything away".

At this point, Pope Francis referred to a medieval text in which it is told that the Christians, after winning a battle and conquering a city, lined up all the pagans and lined them up between the baptistery and the sword, forcing them to choose: the water, that is baptism, or the weapon, that is death. And he affirmed: "This is not the Christian's style. Its style is that of Jesus, humble'.

The Christian,' he explained, 'preaches, announces the Gospel with his testimony more than with words. A wise bishop from Italy said to me a few days ago: 'Sometimes we get confused and think that our evangelical preaching must be a salus idearum and not a salus animarum, the health of ideas and not the health of souls. But how does one get to the health of souls? With humility, with charity. St Thomas has a beautiful phrase on this: 'It is like going towards that horizon that never ends because it is always a horizon'. So how do we proceed with this Christian attitude? He says do not be afraid of great things. By going forward, taking into account even the small things. This is divine. It is like a tension between the great and the small; both, this is Christian. Christian missionary work, the preaching of the Gospel of the Church, goes this way'.

The confirmation is in Mark's gospel. The Pope noted it: 'You cannot proceed in any other way. And in the Gospel, at the end, there is a beautiful sentence when it says that Jesus acted together with them and 'confirmed the word with the signs that accompanied it'. When we go with this magnanimity and also with this humility, when we are not afraid of the big things, of this horizon, but we also take on the small things, such as humility and daily charity, the Lord confirms the Word and we go forward. The triumph of the Church is the resurrection of Jesus. There is the cross first".

"Let us ask the Lord today," he concluded, "to become missionaries in the Church, apostles in the Church, but with this spirit: great magnanimity and also great humility.

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 26/04/2013]

No triumphal march: fragments, to reconcile

(Jn 6:52-59)

 

The Eucharistic theme conveys a fundamental message, about the quality of Life of the Eternal that we can already experience here and now.

The Life of the Eternal is not the effect of external “belief” in Jesus. Conviction that would stop us, and lose 'contact'.

Instead, it becomes reciprocal, evolves, recovers us, as in a natural energy.

Here is the raw Food, and Drink: by 'chewing’ Him and 'crushing’; 'drinking’ Him and 'gulping’, ‘quaffing’ Him and ‘swilling down' even [verbs used in the Greek text].

Total assimilation, which is converted into an experience - Gift from Person to person.

The Food to be fed on is not a seal, but an everlasting, convoking motion. Not a logical, compassed and consenting doctrine, but Word-event that fully engages.

For this reason, here is the Person of Christ - in his true and full human reality, offered and broken; in his authentic teaching and vicissitude as the paschal lamb, amidst wolves that shredded him.

It is the raw means by which the Life of the Eternal is given and preserved.

In this sense the Eucharist received in bare Faith is the real (not symbolic) Presence of the Risen One.

The harshness of the vocabulary used - not very intimate - scratches the lives of believers with concrete effects in the first person.

«To have Life» is to be united with Jesus - but not in a sweet, sentimental, or dazzling way.

The Pact of a new kingdom is existence in God: a charge that is not exhausted, and ushers us into the paradoxical, wounded glory of the community of sons.

The Eucharist is the reference point of Church recognizing itself, defines what it is called to be. And must not find its perennial bonds elsewhere.

 

With polemical crudeness, Jesus insists on proposing Himself as the Easter Lamb who rudely chopped up and totally absorbed, frees from slavery - introducing his own intimates in angular but true trajectories.

His proposal passes through an impertinent transgression of legalism: it was absolutely forbidden to assume blood, considered the seat of life.

To make the story of the total Christ one's own - so far removed from controlled thinking - is to mark a contestation of norms and habits or fashions.

In short, others "manna" or external affective dependencies, diluted, conditioning-centred, are not even pale figures of the Living Food.

The life Communion with the concrete Person of Lord is only that of the Son with the Father: cultivating it, we dream of it and keep it there, along with our events - so that they are nourished by same Spirit.

By letting the motivations and the world of images linked to the Lord's Supper evolve, we allow ourselves to be led by the efficacious Sign. It will guide and even lead, precisely where we need to go.

By surrendering to such a memorial that gives intimate impetus, something will happen - for the soul to take the field. We will see other stages give birth.

Here is the Judgement of the wounded Crucified, who sprinkles authentic life (even if inclement); without admirable attunements all around.

This by taking our flesh and blood [involves the body and moods] which assimilates to Him the discarded, those outcasts of earthly thrones and opportunistic entanglements.

This is shocking for the vulgar outside mentality that raises defences and seeks approval, recognition, achievement; mirages of success, things that everyone wants.

Decrease that does not attract enthusiastic consensus, but rather flies in the face of normal expectations of the usual choruses of glory - of the acclamation’ symphonies for whirlwind success and available, but mitigating.

 

Flesh and Blood: thrown into the furrows of history. We also being involved without dampening the Spirit; in a personal and intimate way: One Body, assimilated into Him and His affair.

First fruits of no triumphal march: we too became food, crumbs and fragments, to reconcile.

Otherwise, the time of the Promises cannot be fulfilled.

 

 

[Friday 3rd wk. in Easter, April 24, 2026]

No triumphal march: fragments, to reconcile

(Jn 6:52-59)

 

The Eucharistic theme conveys a fundamental message, about the quality of Life of the Eternal that we can already experience here and now.

The Life of the Eternal is not the effect of external "belief" in Jesus. Conviction would stop us, and we would lose 'contact'.

Instead it becomes reciprocal, it evolves, it recovers us, as in a natural energy.

Here is the raw Food, and Drink: 'chew it' and 'crush it', 'drink it' and 'swill it' even [verbs used in the Greek text].

Total assimilation, which is converted into an experience - Gift from Person to Person.

The Food to be nourished on is not a seal; rather, an everlasting, convoking motion.

Not a logical doctrine, compassed and consenting, but Word-event that fully engages.

And his story - with all its implications of persecution suffered, and harshness, and denunciation activity.

[This is an aspect that is in tune with the so-called inspired prayer 'in the Name of Jesus', i.e. a prayer imbued with the dramatic bearing and burden of his historical events; which neither spiritualises nor anaesthetises us at all, because it contrasts critical witnesses with installed situations].

For this reason, here is the Person of Christ - in his true and full human reality, offered and broken; in his authentic teaching and vicissitude as the paschal lamb.

Between wolves that have shredded it.

It is the abrupt means by which the Life of the Eternal is given and preserved.

In this sense, the Eucharist received in naked Faith is the real (not symbolic) Presence of the Risen One.

The harshness of the vocabulary used - not very intimate - scratches the believers' lives with concrete first-person effects, not automatic or magical.

Faith emphasises the paradigmatic nuptiality "Do you want to unite your life to mine?": it is a privileged place - on which we feed and drink, even in its very harshness, to make it explicit.

It is Life from the Father through the Son, assimilated in us: not devotion.

"To have Life" is to be united with Jesus - but not in a sweet, sentimental, or dazzling way.

We are impregnated and sent, made One with the "Son of Man" [the divine measure for each one of us] in the Covenant of events.

Relationship, motive, vehicle, unifying movement, anticipation, which unfold the Communion between Father and Son - without stillness or pause.

The covenant of a new kingdom is life in God: a charge that is not exhausted, and ushers us into the paradoxical and wounded glory of the community of sons.

The Eucharist is a point of reference for the Church, sometimes lost in the hypnosis of external events.

Assembly that recognises itself; it defines what it is called to be. And it must not find its perennial bonds elsewhere.

 

Some passages from John are an interesting historical testimony of the catechesis at the end of the first century in the communities of Asia Minor.

Fraternities in search of ancestral motivations, of the most ancient energies, that would rise above the whirlwinds of persecution and not alter consciousness in Christ.

Instruction was configured to short questions and answers, formulated to welcome pagans, stem defections, deepen themes.

Arguments and thrusts that distinguished the living Faith from a religiosity of the past and its perfectionist or commemorative schemes.

Styles that it was appropriate to lay down, to satiate the hunger and thirst for fullness - conquering freedom, joy, and a more complete, total, indestructible being.

With polemical rawness, Jesus insists on presenting himself as the Lamb of the true Passover.

A lamb that, roughly pounded, crushed, shredded, and totally absorbed, could liberate from bondage, and give the joy of ecstasy.

In this way, he introduced his own into angular, but true trajectories - finally reknotted, both to activate the authentic realisation of individuals, and for qualities of coexistence.

His proposal passed through an impertinent transgression of purism, legalism, and intimist, devout culture in general.

It was absolutely forbidden to take blood, which was considered the seat of life.

To make the story of the total Christ - so far removed from controlled thinking - his own was to mark contestation.

It was rejection of symbols, norms, habits or fashions. There would be no alternative, no non-offensive compromise.

Not only that: it was also necessary to change the minds of those who imagined that they could align themselves (individually or as a group) with the archaic idea of a powerful, victorious, and guarantor Messiah.

Perhaps adaptable, flexible; available for any kind of Jesus-Empire alliance, which already enchanted some.

In short, other external, diluted, conditioning-centred 'manne' or affective dependencies could not even be pale figures of the Living Food.

 

Communion of life with the concrete Person of the Lord is only that of the Son with the Father.By cultivating it, we dream it and keep it there, along with our own affairs - so that they may be nourished by that same Spirit.

By letting the motivations and the world of images linked to the Lord's Supper evolve, we allow ourselves to be led by the efficacious Sign.

It will guide and even lead precisely where we need to go.

By surrendering to such a memory-giving intimate impulse, something will happen - for the soul to take the field.

Waiting until we are ready, we will learn to understand the fruitfulness and wisdom of the broken Gift-Response that incessantly gives birth to other stages, still activating different, perhaps unknown, resources.

Here it is the Judgment of the wounded Crucified One that spreads authentic 'life' even inclemently; without admirable attunement all around.

This by taking our flesh and blood [it even involves the body and humours] that assimilates the discarded, the outcasts of earthly thrones, and opportunistic entanglements to Him.

This is shocking to the vulgar mentality outside. World of convictions that raises defences and seeks approval, recognition, achievements; mirages of success, things everyone wants.

Diminution that does not attract enthusiastic consent, but rather repels the normal expectations of the usual choruses of glory - of symphonies of acclamation for the swirling and available, but mitigating success.

 

Flesh and Blood: thrown into the furrows of history.

Involved without dampening the Spirit; personally and intimately. One body, assimilated into Him and His story.

First fruits of no triumphal march: we too become food, crumbs and fragments, to reconcile.

Otherwise, the time of Promises cannot be fulfilled.

 

 

To internalise and live the message:

 

What understanding do you show by taking the Food and Drink of Life? All quiet?

How do you see fit to combine and deepen Faith in the Real Presence of the Risen One with the harshness of life?

This […] is the concluding part and culmination of the discourse given by Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum after he had fed thousands of people with five loaves and two fishes the previous day. Jesus reveals the meaning of this miracle, namely that the promised time had come; God the Father, who had fed the Israelites in the desert with manna, now sent him, the Son, as the true Bread of life; and this bread is his flesh, his life, offered in sacrifice for us. It is therefore a question of welcoming him with faith, not of being shocked by his humanity, and it is about eating his flesh and drinking his blood (cf. Jn 6:54) in order to obtain for ourselves the fullness of life. It is clear that this address was not given to attract approval. Jesus knew this and gave this speech intentionally. In fact it was a critical moment, a turning point in his public mission. The people, and the disciples themselves, were enthusiastic when he performed miraculous signs; the multiplication of the loaves and fishes was a clear revelation that he was the Messiah, so that the crowd would have liked to carry Jesus in triumph and proclaim him King of Israel. But this was not what Jesus wanted. With his long address he dampens the enthusiasm and incites much dissent. In explaining the image of the bread, he affirms that he has been sent to offer his own life and he who wants to follow him must join him in a deep and personal way, participating in his sacrifice of love. Thus Jesus was to institute the Sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, so that his disciples themselves might share in his love — this was crucial — and, as one body united with him, might extend his mystery of salvation in the world.

In listening to this address the people understood that Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted, one who would aspire to an earthly throne. He did not seek approval to conquer Jerusalem; rather he wanted to go to the Holy City to share the destiny of the prophets: to give his life for God and for the people. Those loaves, broken for thousands, were not meant to result in a triumphal march but to foretell the sacrifice on the Cross when Jesus was to become Bread, Body and Blood, offered in expiation. Jesus therefore gave the address to bring the crowds down to earth and mostly to encourage his disciples to make a decision. In fact from that moment many of them no longer followed him.

Dear friends, let us once again be filled with wonder by Christ’s words. He, a grain of wheat scattered in the furrows of history, is the first fruits of the new humanity, freed from the corruption of sin and death. And let us rediscover the beauty of the Sacrament of the Eucharist which expresses all God’s humility and holiness. His making himself small, God makes himself small, a fragment of the universe to reconcile all in his love. May the Virgin Mary, who gave the world the Bread of Life, teach us to live in ever deeper union with him.

[Pope Benedict, Angelus 19 August 2012]

1. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (Jn 6:54). By instituting the Eucharist on the eve of his death, Christ wanted to give the Church a food that would nourish her continually and make her live his own life as the Risen One.

Long before the institution, Jesus had announced this unique meal. In Jewish worship there was no lack of sacred meals, which were eaten in the presence of God and which manifested the joy of divine favour. Jesus surpasses all this: now it is he, in his flesh and blood, who becomes the food and drink of humanity. In the Eucharistic meal, man feeds on God.

When, for the first time, Jesus announces this food, he arouses the amazement of his listeners, who fail to grasp such a lofty divine plan. Jesus therefore vigorously emphasised the objective truth of his words, affirming the necessity of the Eucharistic meal: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you" (John 6: 53). This is not a purely spiritual meal, in which the expressions 'eating the flesh' of Christ and 'drinking his blood' would have a metaphorical meaning. It is a true meal, as Jesus emphatically states: "My flesh is true food and my blood true drink" (Jn 6:55).

Such food, moreover, is no less necessary for the development of divine life in the faithful than material food is for the maintenance and development of bodily life. The Eucharist is not a luxury offered to those who would like to live more intimately united to Christ: it is a requirement of Christian life. This requirement was understood by the disciples since, according to the testimony of the Acts of the Apostles, in the early days of the Church the "breaking of bread", the Eucharistic meal, was practised daily in the homes of the faithful "with joy and simplicity of heart" (Acts 2:46).

2. In the promise of the Eucharist, Jesus explains why this food is necessary: "I am the bread of life" he declares (Jn 6:48). "As the Father, who has life, has sent me and I live for the Father, so also he who eats of me will live for me" (John 6:57). The Father is the first source of life: he has given this life to the Son, who in turn communicates it to humanity. He who feeds on Christ in the Eucharist does not have to wait for the hereafter to receive eternal life: he already possesses it on earth, and in it he also possesses the guarantee of bodily resurrection at the end of the world: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn 6:54).

This guarantee of Resurrection comes from the fact that the flesh of the Son of Man given as food is his body in the glorious state of the Risen One. The listeners to the promise of the Eucharist had not grasped this truth: they thought that Jesus wanted to speak of his flesh in the state of his earthly life, and thus manifested great repugnance at the meal announced. The Master corrects their way of thinking, pointing out that it is the flesh of the Son of Man "ascended to where he was before" (Jn 6:62), that is, in the triumphant state of his ascension into heaven. This glorious body is filled with the life of the Holy Spirit, and it is in this way that it can sanctify the men who feed on it, and give them the pledge of eternal glory.

In the Eucharist, therefore, we receive the life of the risen Christ. For when the sacrifice is sacramentally performed on the altar, not only is the mystery of the Saviour's Passion and Death made present in it, but also the mystery of the Resurrection, in which the sacrifice finds its crowning glory. The Eucharistic celebration makes us participate in the redemptive offering, but also in the triumphant life of the risen Christ. This is the reason for the atmosphere of joy that characterises every Eucharistic liturgy. While commemorating the drama of Calvary, once marked by immense sorrow, the priest and the faithful rejoice in uniting their offering to that of Christ, because they know that they are at the same time living the mystery of the Resurrection, inseparable from this offering.

3. The life of the risen Christ is distinguished by its power and richness. The one who receives communion receives the spiritual strength needed to face all obstacles and trials while remaining faithful to his commitments as a Christian. He also draws from the Sacrament, as from an abundant spring, continuous streams of energy for the development of all his resources and qualities, in a joyful ardour that stimulates generosity.

In particular, he draws on the life-giving energy of charity. In the tradition of the Church, the Eucharist has always been considered and lived as the sacrament par excellence of unity and love. Already St Paul declares it: "Since there is one bread, we, though we are many, are one body; For we all partake of the one bread" (1 Cor 10:17).

The Eucharistic celebration brings together all Christians, whatever their differences, in a unanimous offering and meal in which all participate. It gathers them all into the equal dignity of brothers of Christ and sons of the Father; it invites them to respect, to mutual esteem, to mutual service. Communion also gives each person the moral strength needed to rise above reasons for division and opposition, to forgive wrongs received, to make a new effort in the direction of reconciliation and fraternal understanding.

Is it not, moreover, particularly significant that the precept of mutual love was formulated by Christ in its highest expression during the Last Supper, at the institution of the Eucharist? Every believer should remember this when approaching the Eucharistic table and strive not to contradict with his life what he celebrates in the mystery.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 8 June 1983]

This [...] Gospel passage [...] introduces us to the second part of the discourse that Jesus delivers in the Synagogue of Capernaum, after having satisfied the hunger of the great multitude with five loaves and two fish: the multiplication of the loaves. He presents himself as “the bread which came down from heaven”, the bread that gives eternal life, and he adds: “the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v. 51).

This passage is decisive, and in fact it provokes the reaction of those who are listening, who begin to dispute among themselves: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52). When the sign of the shared bread points to its true significance, namely, self-giving to the point of sacrifice, misunderstanding arises; it leads to the actual rejection of the One whom, shortly before, they had wanted to lift up in triumph. Let us remember that Jesus had to hide because they had wanted to make him king.

Jesus continues: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (v. 53). Here the blood is present together with the flesh. In biblical language, flesh and blood express concrete humanity. The people and the disciples themselves sense that Jesus invites them to enter into communion with him, to ‘eat’ him, his humanity, in order to share with him the gift of life for the world. So much for triumphs and mirages of success! It is precisely the sacrifice of Jesus who gives himself for us.

This bread of life, the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, comes to us freely given at the table of the Eucharist. Around the altar we find what spiritually feeds us and quenches our thirst today and for eternity. Each time we participate in the Holy Mass, in a certain sense, we anticipate heaven on earth, because from the Eucharistic sustenance, the Body and Blood of Jesus, we learn what eternal life is. It is living for the Lord: “he who eats me will live because of me” (v. 57), the Lord says. The Eucharist shapes us so that we live not only for ourselves but for the Lord and for our brothers and sisters. Life’s happiness and eternity depend on our ability to render fruitful the evangelical love we receive in the Eucharist.

As in that time, today too Jesus repeats to each of us: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (v. 53). Brothers and sisters, it is not about material sustenance, but a living and life-giving bread, which conveys the very life of God. When we receive Communion we receive the very life of God. To have this life it is necessary to nourish ourselves of the Gospel and of the love of our brothers and sisters. Before Jesus’ invitation to nourish ourselves of his Body and of his Blood, we might feel the need to dispute and to resist, as did those listeners whom today’s Gospel spoke of. This happens when we struggle to model our existence after that of Jesus, to act according to his criteria and not according to worldly criteria. By nourishing ourselves of this food we can enter into full harmony with Christ, with his sentiments, with his behaviour. This is so important: to go to Mass and partake in Communion, because receiving Communion is receiving this living Christ, who transforms us within and prepares us for heaven.

May the Virgin Mary support our aim to enter into communion with Jesus Christ, by nourishing ourselves of his Eucharist, so as to become in our turn bread broken for our brothers and sisters.

[Pope Francis, Angelus 19 August 2018]