{"id":15541,"date":"2016-08-17T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/the-mathematics-of-mercy-pope-francis-sees-a-lesson-in-jesus-miracles-71087\/"},"modified":"2016-08-17T15:47:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T15:47:00","slug":"the-mathematics-of-mercy-pope-francis-sees-a-lesson-in-jesus-miracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/the-mathematics-of-mercy-pope-francis-sees-a-lesson-in-jesus-miracles\/","title":{"rendered":"The mathematics of mercy – Pope Francis sees a lesson in Jesus’ miracles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Aug 17, 2016 \/ 09:47 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Jesus\u2019 miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a lesson for us all, Pope Francis said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis compassion is not a vague sentiment,\u201d the Pope said, adding that Jesus \u201cloves us so much, and wants to be close to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pope reflected on the miracle of Jesus\u2019 feeding of 5,000 people as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, saying that the miracle offered a lesson for Christ\u2019s disciples.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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,\u201d the Pope said. \u201cIt is a miracle that he does, but it is the miracle of faith, of prayer with compassion and love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pontiff summarized the gospel account in his catechesis at the weekly General Audience in the Paul VI Hall Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus wishes to withdraw and pray, but seeing the multitudes, is moved by compassion and chooses to remain with them. By instructing his disciples to feed the crowd, he teaches them to have faith and invites them to share in his concern for those in need,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a concrete sign of that merciful concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story in the Gospel of Matthew \u201cclearly evokes\u201d the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, the Pope said. Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven, says the blessing, breaks the bread and gives it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Christian community is born and reborn continually by this Eucharistic communion,\u201d Pope Francis said. This communion with Christ impels Christians today to go out to men and women to offer them \u201cthe concrete sign\u201d of the mercy of Christ. This makes believers \u201cservants of mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our partaking of the Eucharist, we not only receive spiritual nourishment, but, conformed ever more fully to the Lord, we become signs of his merciful presence to those around us,\u201d the Pope continued.<\/p>\n

He prayed that God might make Christians become \u201cinstruments of communion\u201d in their own relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay all of us, as members of Christ\u2019s body, seek to bring to our families and communities, and especially to those most in need, the nourishment of God\u2019s closeness, mercy and love,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Vatican City, Aug 17, 2016 \/ 09:47 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Jesus’ miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a lesson for us all, Pope Francis said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“His compassion is not a vague sentiment,” the Pope said, adding t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nThe mathematics of mercy – Pope Francis sees a lesson in Jesus' miracles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Aug 17, 2016 \/ 09:47 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Jesus’ miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a lesson for us all, Pope Francis said Wednesday. “His compassion is not a vague sentiment,” the Pope said, adding t...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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