Pope Francis at General Audience – August 17, 2016

 
At his General Audience on Wednesday, which was held in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke about mercy as the instrument of communion. Reflecting on the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, taken from the Gospel of St Matthew, the Holy Father focused on Jesus’ compassion for the people who follow after Him. “His compassion is not a vague sentiment,” the Pope said. Jesus “loves us so much, and wants to be close to us.”
 
Jesus’ concern for the crowd is the impetus for the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Jesus, though, does not act alone, but wishes to involve His disciples in the miracle. “He shows them that the few loaves and fishes they have, with the power of faith and of prayer, can be shared by all the people,” the Pope said. “It is a miracle that He does, but it is the miracle of faith, of prayer with compassion and love.”
 
Pope Francis noted that Jesus’ actions in performing the miracle — lifting His eyes to heaven, saying the blessing, breaking the bread, and giving it — are the same actions He performs at the Last Supper — and the same signs performed by every priest when he offers the Sacrifice of the Mass. “The Christian community is born and reborn continually by this Eucharistic communion,” the Pope said. Our communion with Christ, he continued, impels us to go out to the men and women of our day, “to offer them the concrete sign of the mercy” of Christ. In this way, all believers are made “servants of mercy.”
 
Concluding his catechesis, the Holy Father asked us all to pray that the Lord “might always make His Church capable of this holy service,” and might help each of us “to be instruments of communion” in our own relationships, “visible signs of the mercy of God.”