杏MAP导航

By Christopher Wells

As the Church marked the first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, celebrated Holy Mass in the Basilica of St Peter, standing in for 杏MAP导航 Francis, who is still recovering from surgery.

Archbishop Fisichella read the , in which the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, which recounts Jesus鈥� miraculous feeding of the five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two fish.

The Holy Father reflected on 鈥渢hree moments鈥� in the Gospel: 鈥淛esus sees the crowd鈥檚 hunger; Jesus shares the bread; Jesus asks that the leftovers be collected.鈥� These three moments, he said, 鈥渃an be summed up in three verbs: to see, to share, to preserve.鈥�

Seeing the needs of each person

The miracle of the loaves and fishes, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, 鈥渂egins with the gaze of Jesus, who is neither indifferent nor too busy to see the hunger felt by weary humanity.鈥� Instead, He is concerned for everyone, and 鈥渦nderstands the needs of each person.鈥�

Our grandparents look on us the same way, the 杏MAP导航 said. Their love helped us to grow, and we, in turn, are called to share our love and attention. 鈥淟et us lift up our eyes and see them,鈥� 杏MAP导航 Francis said, 鈥渆ven as Jesus sees us.鈥�

A covenantal sharing of life

The Holy Father pointed out that Jesus fed the people with the loaves and fish shared by a young person. 鈥淎t the heart of the miracle,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e find a young person willing to share what he had.鈥�

杏MAP导航 Francis insisted that 鈥淭oday we need a new covenant between young and old. We need to share the treasure of life, to dream together, to overcome conflicts between generations and prepare a future together.鈥� He added that without this 鈥渃ovenantal sharing in life,鈥� we risk dying of hunger.

鈥淚 have often mentioned the words of the prophet Joel about young and old coming together,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said. 鈥淵oung people, as prophets of the future, who treasure their own history. The elderly, who continue to dream and share their experience with the young, without standing in their way. Young and old, the treasure of tradition and the freshness of the Spirit.鈥�

Nothing meant to be cast aside

Reflecting on Jesus鈥� instruction to gather up the fragments of bread after the miracle, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥淭his reveals the heart of God鈥� who is concerned that 鈥渘othing be lost, not even a fragment.鈥� This is especially true of people, he said, who must never be discarded.

鈥淲e need to make this prophetic summons heard among ourselves and in our world: gather, preserve with care, protect.鈥�

杏MAP导航 Francis emphasized the importance of 鈥減rotecting鈥� our grandparents, as they protected us as we grew. 鈥淟et us protect them, so that nothing of their lives and dreams may be lost.鈥�

The bread of our lives

Grandparents and the elderly, said 杏MAP导航 Francis 鈥渁re the bread that nourishes our life.鈥� In the conclusion of his homily, he pleaded, 鈥淟et us not forget them. Let us covenant with them鈥� so that, 鈥渢ogether, young and old alike鈥� might 鈥渇ind fulfilment at the table of sharing, blessed by God.鈥�

At the conclusion of Mass, young people offered flowers to the elderly who were present in the Basilica for the Liturgy.