Pope: Eucharist Calls Us to Feed the Hungry

"Those who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those who, even in our days, lack daily bread,"

VATICAN CITY (Zenit) - The feast of Corpus Christi is an invitation to Christians to work for the elimination of world hunger, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today in his address to thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the midday Angelus.

"Last week our gaze was attracted by the mystery of the most holy Trinity," the Holy Father said.

"Today we are invited to look upon the consecrated Host: It is the same God! The same Love! This is the beauty of Christian truth: The Creator and Lord of all things became 'a grain of wheat' to be sown in our earth, in the furrow of our history; he became bread to be broken, shared, eaten; he became our food to give us life, his own divine life.

"He was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means 'House of Bread,' and when he began to preach to the crowds he revealed that the Father sent him into the world as 'living bread come down from heaven,' as 'bread of life.'"

The Pontiff affirmed that the Eucharist is "the school of charity and solidarity."

"Those who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those who, even in our days, lack daily bread," he stated. "Many parents are barely able to provide for themselves and their children. It is a grave and growing problem that the international community finds hard to solve.

"The Church does not only pray 'give us this day our daily bread,' but, following the Lord's example, works in every way 'to multiply the five loaves and two fish' with countless humanitarian efforts and sharing so that no one remains without the necessities of life."

Rome will host a U.N. summit in early June where the growing global food crisis is to be discussed. A drastic increase in food prices, caused by a variety of factors, including the growing use of biofuels, has poor countries struggling to pay for basic sustenance.

"Dear brothers and sisters, may the feast of Corpus Domini be an occasion to grow in this concrete attention to our brothers, especially the poor," Benedict XVI encouraged. "May the Virgin Mary obtain this grace for us.

"May Mary, who, carrying Jesus in her womb, was the living 'tabernacle' of the Eucharist, communicate to us her faith in the holy mystery of the Body and Blood of her divine Son, that he may truly be the center of our life."

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