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Pope at Angelus: ‘Material things do not give fullness to life’

August 4, 2024 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus address on Aug. 4, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Aug 4, 2024 / 10:03 am (CNA).

During his first Angelus address of the month, Pope Francis asked his listeners on Sunday to seek the path of charity, “which keeps nothing for itself but shares everything.”

“Material things do not give fullness to life. They are important but they do not fill life. Only love can do that,” the Holy Father said to crowds of local and international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 4.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 6:24-35) — which recounts how many people followed Jesus because they were looking for bread to eat and not because they believed in him or his miracles — the pope challenged his listeners to ask themselves: “What kind of relationship do I have with material things? Am I a slave to them? Or do I use them freely as instruments to give and receive love?”

Alongside the virtue of charity, Pope Francis said gratitude and generosity are essential qualities that enable a Christian to grow in the love of God and others.

“Am I able to say thank you? Thank you to God and my brothers and sisters for the gifts I have received? And do I know how to share them with others?” he asked.

During his address, the pope also spoke about how a selfish and disordered attachment to money and material goods can be a source of conflict and division within families.

“How sad, on the other hand, when they [families] fight over inheritance. I’ve seen many cases of this. It’s sad,” he said. “For money, they don’t speak to each other for years!”

Pilgrims display Brazilian flags in St. Peter's Square during Pope Francis' Angelus address on Aug. 4, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pilgrims display Brazilian flags in St. Peter’s Square during Pope Francis’ Angelus address on Aug. 4, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

With a prayer to Mary, the Holy Father petitioned the Mother of God “to teach us to make everything an instrument of love” for the good of others.  

On Sunday the Holy Father asked pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square to pray for justice through the intercession of the newly beatified 18th-century Maronite historian Patriarch Estephan Douaihy and for the people suffering in Lebanon, the Holy Land, Palestine, and Israel due to violent conflict.

The pontiff also expressed his concern about the ongoing political unrest and protracted humanitarian crises occurring in Venezuela and Myanmar and asked for prayers for those who have recently died or are left homeless in India due to torrential rains and floods. 

Before departing from the window in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square from which the pope prays his Sunday Angelus with the public, he asked the crowds of waving and cheering pilgrims to pray for him.   

“I continue to pray for you, please do the same for me. I wish you all a lovely Sunday, but please don’t forget to pray for me!” he said. 

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Pope proposes 3 gestures from Gospel miracle to live at Mass

July 28, 2024 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis addresses pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, Sunday, July 28, 2024. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 28, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday noted three gestures from the Bible account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes which he argued are mirrored by Jesus at the Last Supper and by the faithful in each Mass.

The pope pointed out “offering, giving thanks, and sharing” as highlights of the miracle recounted in the Gospel of John, offering his reflection on the Sunday Gospel before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered under the scorching sun in St. Peter’s Square. 

The temperature for the noonday prayer was already at 95 degrees as many in the crowds sheltered from the heat under colorful umbrellas.

The faithful gather in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Vatican Media
The faithful gather in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus on Sunday, July 28, 2024. Vatican Media

“The Gospel tells us about a boy who has five loaves and two fish,” the pope noted, saying that the boy’s gesture of offering, as well as our own, is an acknowledgment that “we have something good to give, and we say our ‘yes,’ even if what we have is too little compared to what is needed.”

The pope left his text to insist that Catholics are invited to offer what we have and are, even if the offering seems too insignificant and poor.

This offering is lived out in each Mass, as the priest offers the bread and wine, “and each person offers himself, his own life,” he said. This offering becomes the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

“It is a gesture that may seem small, when we think of the immense needs of humanity,” the pope acknowledged, “…but God makes it the material for the greatest miracle there is: that in which He Himself — Himself! — makes Himself present among us, for the salvation of the world.”

Pilgrims display a sign for Pope Francis at the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter's Square, Sunday, July 28, 2024. Vatican Media
Pilgrims display a sign for Pope Francis at the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, July 28, 2024. Vatican Media

“We can ask ourselves,” the pope suggested: “Do I truly believe that, by the grace of God, I have something unique to give to my brothers and sisters?”

Our offering is intimately linked to the next gesture, that of gratitude, the pope argued. 

The pope suggested words we can pray to the Father: “All that I have is your gift, Lord, and to give thanks I can only give you back what you first gave me, together with your Son Jesus Christ, adding to it what I can.”

“Each of us can add a little something,” he insisted, inviting the faithful to reflect: “What can I give to the Lord? What can the little one give? Our poor love. Saying, ‘Lord, I love you.’ We poor people: Our love is so small! But we can give it to the Lord, the Lord welcomes it.”

Fruit of everyone’s gift

These gifts then lead to sharing, the pope explained.

“In the Mass is Communion, when together we approach the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ: the fruit of everyone’s gift transformed by the Lord into food for all. It is a beautiful moment, that of Communion, which teaches us to live every gesture of love as a gift of grace, both for the giver and the receiver,” he said.

The pope invited the faithful to receive Our Lady’s help to live each Mass with this attitude of faith, “to recognize and savor every day the ‘miracles’ of God’s grace.”

After praying the Angelus and giving his apostolic blessing, the pope assured his closeness to those who have suffered from landslides in Ethiopia. 

Landslides hit the remote mountainous zone of Gofa in southern Ethiopia Sunday night into Monday morning, triggered by heavy rains in the region. Well over 200 people are already confirmed dead, with the United Nations projecting that the death toll could end up closer to 500.

The pope then spoke of the continuing problem of world hunger, calling the international community to take a stand against the “scandal” of “wasting resources to fuel wars large and small.”

“While there are so many people in the world suffering from disasters and hunger, we continue to build and sell weapons,” he lamented. He said this “contradicts the spirit of brotherhood of the Olympic Games that have just begun. Let us not forget, brothers and sisters: War is defeat!”

“I will not forsake you”

The pope also noted that today is the 4th World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, a celebration he initiated in 2020. This year’s theme is drawn from Psalm 71: “Do not cast me off in my old age.”

“Today’s day calls us to listen to the voice of the elderly who say, ‘Do not forsake me!’ and to respond, ‘I will not forsake you!’” the pope said.

“Let us say ‘no’ to the loneliness of the elderly! Our future depends greatly on how grandparents and grandchildren learn to live together. Let’s not forget the elderly!” he said, inviting the faithful to a round of applause for all the grandparents.

The pope concluded his weekly meeting with the faithful with his traditional good wishes for a nice lunch, and the request: “Please don’t forget to pray for me.”

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