Castel Gandolfo, Italy (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI says that all Christians should reflect on how “hungry” they are to know and love Jesus Christ.
“We too must ask ourselves if we really feel this hunger, hunger for the word of God, hunger to know the real meaning of life,” he said in his Sunday Angelus remarks Aug. 12.
“Only those who are attracted by God the Father, who listen and allowthemselves to be instructed by him can believe in Jesus, encounter him and nourish themselves of him and thus find true life, the path of life, justice, truth and love.”
The Pope addressed pilgrims gathered within the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, 20 miles to the south of Rome. He based his reflections upon the Gospel of the day in which Jesus revealed himself to the Jewish crowds as “the true bread which came down from heaven.”
Pope Benedict explained that in Jewish thought it was clear that “the true bread from heaven that nourished Israel was the Law, the word of God,” as given to Moses in the Torah. It was this that distinguished them from their neighbors because through this “true bread” they knew God’s will “and therefore the right path of life.”
“Now Jesus, in revealing himself as the bread of heaven, testifies that he is theWord of God in person, the word incarnate, through which man can make God’s will his food which guides and supports our existence,” the Pope explained. Read more.