Scottish Catholic Observer

The words of the Jesuit Pope, known for his love of the poor, on the universal ‘hunger for life and eternity’ being ultimately more important than physical hungers came as he addressed the crowds gathered in the summer sun at St Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus.

People should not be afraid or embarrassed to go seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Pope Francis added.

“There are people who are afraid to go to Confession, forgetting that they will not encounter a severe judge there, but the immensely merciful Father,” he said.

“When we go to Confession, we feel a bit ashamed. That happens to all of us, but we must remember that this shame is a grace that prepares us for the embrace of the Father, who always forgives and always forgives everything.”

Referring back to Sunday’s reading from the from the Gospel of St John on the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the Holy Father said ‘those people gave more value to the bread than to he who gave them the bread.’ He then explained that Jesus points out the need to look beyond a gift and find the giver, adding that God himself is the gift and is also the giver.

“Jesus invites us to be open to a perspective which is not only that of daily preoccupation and material requires: Jesus talks to us of a different kind of food, food that is not corruptible and that we must keep looking for and welcome into our lives,” he said, urging Catholics not to work for food that dies but ‘for the food that endures for eternal life which the son of man will give us.’

Pope Francis said the Faithful needs to understand that beyond a physical hunger, man has a different kind of hunger for God.

Pic: Pope Francis hears Confession during a penitential Liturgy in early March in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican