Eucharist: Discipleship, Communion, Sharing

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

in the Gospel we heard, there is an expression of Jesus' that always strikes me: «You give them something to eat "(Lk 9:13). Starting from this sentence, I will allow myself be guided by three words: discipleship, communion, sharing.

1. First of all: who are those to be fed? The answer is found at the beginning of the Gospel: the crowds, the multitude. Jesus is in the midst of people, he welcomes them, speaks to them, cures them, he shows them the mercy of God; from among them he chooses Twelve Apostles to be with Him and immerse themselves, like Him, in the concrete situations of the world. And the people  follow Him, they listen to Him, because Jesus speaks and acts in a new way, with the authority of someone who is genuine and consistent, who speaks and acts with truth, who gives the hope that comes from God, who is the revelation of the Face of a God who is love. And the people joyfully bless God.

Tonight we are the crowd of the Gospel, we seek to follow Jesus to listen to him, to enter into communion with him in the Eucharist, to accompany him and so that he may accompany us. Let us ask ourselves: how do I follow I Jesus? Jesus speaks in silence in the mystery of the Eucharist and each time reminds us that following him means coming out of ourselves and making our life not our own, but a gift to him and to the others.

2. Let's go further: where does Jesus' invitation come from, for the disciples themselves to feed the multitude? It stems from two factors: first of all from the crowd that, following Jesus, finds itself outdoors, away from the towns, while evening is approaching, and then from the disciples' concern to ask Jesus to dismiss the crowd so that they can go into the neighboring territories to find food and lodging (cf. Lk 9:12). Faced with the needs of the crowd, this is the disciples' solution: every man for himself; dismiss the crowd! Every man for himself; dismiss the crowd! How often do we Christians have this temptation! We do not care about other's needs, and dismiss them with a pitiful: "May God help you", or with a not so pitiful: "Good luck", and if I don't see you anymore ... But Jesus' solution goes in another direction, one that surprises his disciples: "You yourselves give them something to eat." But how can we feed a multitude? "We only have five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people» (Lk 9:13). But Jesus is not discouraged: he asks the disciples to make the people sit in communities of fifty people, raises his eyes to heaven, recites the blessing, breaks the loaves and gives them to the disciples to distribute them (cf. Lk 9:16).

It is a moment of profound communion: the crowd, quenched by the word of the Lord, is now nourished by his bread of life. And all of them were filled, notes the Evangelist (cf. Lk 9:17). This evening, we too are around the Lord's table, the table of the Eucharistic sacrifice, in which he gives us once again his body, he makes present the one sacrifice of the cross. It is in listening to his Word, in nourishing ourselves on his body and his blood, that he makes us go from a multitude to being a community, from anonymity to communion. The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion, that makes us come out from our individualism to live together our discipleship, our faith in him. Then we should all ask ourselves before the Lord: how do I live the Eucharist? Do I live it anonymously or as a moment of true communion with the Lord, but also with all our brothers and sisters who share this same table? What are our Eucharistic celebrations like?

3. One last element: what generates the multiplication of the loaves? The answer lies in Jesus' invitation to the disciples "You give... ", "give ", share. What do the disciples share? What little they have: five loaves and two fishes. But it is precisely those loaves and fishes in the hands of the Lord that feed the whole crowd. And it is precisely these disciples, distressed when faced with the inability of their means, the poverty of what they can offer, who get the people to sit down and who distribute – trusting Jesus' word - the loaves and fishes that feed the crowd. And this tells us that in the Church, but also in society, one keyword that we must not fear is 'solidarity', i.e. to put at God's disposal what we have, our humble capacities, because only in sharing, in the gift, will our lives be fruitful, will they bear fruit. Solidarity: a word frowned upon by the worldly spirit!

Tonight, once again, the Lord distributes for us the bread which is his Body, he makes himself gift. And we, too, experience the "solidarity of God" with man, a solidarity that never runs out, a solidarity that never ceases to amaze us: God is near us, in the sacrifice of the cross he stoops to enter into the darkness of death to give us his life, defeating evil, selfishness and death. Jesus also this evening gives himself to us in the Eucharist, he shares our same journey, indeed, he makes himself food, the real food that sustains our lives even in times when the road becomes tough, the obstacles slow our steps. And in the Eucharist, the Lord makes us travel his path, that of service, of sharing, of gift, and what little we have, what little we are, if shared, becomes wealth, because the power of God, which is that of love, descends into our poverty to transform it.

Let us ask ourselves then this evening, worshiping Christ really present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by Him? Do I let the Lord who gives himself to me, guide me to come out more and more from behind my little fence, to go out and not be afraid to give, to share, to love him and others?

Brothers and sisters: discipleship, communion, sharing. Let us pray that the participation in the Eucharist leads us to always follow the Lord every day, to be instruments of communion, to share what we are with him and with our neighbor. Then our lives will be truly fruitful. Amen.

[Translation by Peter Waymel]

--Pope Francis, 30 May 2013
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-homily-for-the-solemnity-of-corpus-christi

教宗方濟各在基督聖體聖血節的彌撒講道中提及耶穌說過的一句話「你們給他們吃的罷！」(路加福音 9:13)，從中讓他就以下三點反思:　作基督門徒、共融、分享。

1. 首先，耶穌讓哪些人吃飽呢？答案在福音開端：群眾。耶穌在人群當中，祂歡迎他們，跟他們說話，治癒他們，向他們展示天主的慈悲；他從人群中揀選了十二位宗徒，讓他們深深的進入世界上不同的處境中。人們跟隨祂，聽祂說話，因為耶穌以一個新的方式說話和行動，祂有一種由衷而一致的權柄，以真理說話和行動，給人一份來自天主的希望，反映出天主的面貌——就是愛。

今晚，我們就是福音中的群眾，我們想跟隨耶穌，聆聽祂的說話，在聖體中與祂共融，陪伴祂，讓祂陪伴我們。讓我們問自己：我是怎樣跟隨耶穌？耶穌在聖體的奧秘中以靜默說話，每一次都提醒我們，跟隨祂就是跨越自我，令我們不為自己生活，而是為祂和他人把生命獻上。

2. 再深入一點看：　耶穌是怎樣邀請門徒讓群聚吃飽？這是由於兩個原因：首先，所有跟隨耶穌的群眾在荒野，遠離市區，天快要黑，門徒出於關心，叫耶穌遣散他們，讓他們往四周村莊田舍裡去投宿尋食(路加福音 9:12)。面對群眾的需要，這就是門徒的解決方案：　每個人只為自己，遣散他們吧！我們基督徒是否經常有這樣的試探？我們不理會別人的需要，用一句話：　「願天主幫助你」，或「祝你好運」把人打發走。但耶穌的方式卻很不同，令他的門徒感驚奇：「你們給他們吃的罷！」但我們怎能令數千人吃飽？「我們不過只有五個餅和兩條魚，除非我們親自去給這一切人購買食物。」(路加福音 9:13) 耶穌叫群眾分成五十人一組，望著天祝福食物，擘開遞給門徒，叫他們擺在群眾前。(路加福音 9:16)

這是一個共融的時刻：那些群眾，聽過耶穌的聖言，現在也被祂生命的食糧所滋養。所有人都吃飽了。這一晚，我們也在耶穌的飯桌前，祂聖體奉獻的桌前，祂再一次給我們祂的身體。透過聆聽祂的聖言，讓祂的聖體聖血滋養我們，我們由一群人轉變成一個團體，由互不相識到進入共融。聖體是一件共融的聖事，讓我們由個人主義到與祂一起作祂的門徒。我們應在主前問自己：我怎樣在聖體中生活？我是否和所有兄弟姊妹與基督共融？

3. 最後一點：是什麼令五餅二魚增加？答案在於耶穌對門徒的邀請「你們給….」，「給」，分享。門徒分享了什麼？他們只有五餅二魚。但正正就是這些餅和魚，在耶穌手中，令五千人吃飽。正正就是這些門徒，為他們自己沒有能力而懊惱時，他們把他們的貧乏獻上，他們令群眾坐下，派餅，他們相信耶穌的話。這讓我們知道在教會和社會，有一點我們要注意，團結一致，就是把我們所有的交給天主為祂所用，我們僅有的；因為只有透過分享，我們的生活才能結果實。

今晚，耶穌再一次把祂的身體分給我們，祂把自己當成禮物獻上。天主在我們身旁，在十字架的犧牲，祂進入死亡的黑暗，給我們生命，戰勝邪惡、自私和死亡。祂今晚也在聖體獻出自己。祂和我們一起在旅途上；祂令自己成為食糧，真正的食糧，即使在困境中，仍維持我們的生命。在聖體中，耶穌使我們走祂的道路，那服務、分享、獻上的道路。我們有的很少，但只要分享，因為天主的大能，就會變得豐盛。

讓我們在今晚問自己：我是否願意被祂改造？我是否讓祂指引我去跨越自己，不害怕付出、和人分享、愛祂和別人呢？

兄弟姊妹：作基督門徒、共融、分享。讓我們祈禱，領受聖體使我們時刻跟隨主耶穌，成為共融的工具，跟祂和鄰人分享。這樣我們的生命就會結果實。亞孟。

--http://inspire.fll.cc/pope-francis/pope-francis-enter-into-communion-with-jesus-in-the-eucharist/