Pope Leo XIV’s Corpus Christi homily calls for compassion, sharing, and Eucharistic devotion, urging justice in a hungry world.
Newsroom, June 22, 2025, Gaudium Press — Pope Leo XIV presided over the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), delivering a profound homily that intertwined the Gospel’s message of divine compassion with a urgent call to address global inequities through Eucharistic faith. Addressing thousands gathered in Saint John Lateran Square for Holy Mass, followed by a traditional Eucharistic procession and blessing, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel of Luke (9:11-17), where Jesus feeds a hungry multitude with five loaves and two fish. The Pope presented this miracle as a blueprint for Christian action and a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, which he described as God’s enduring response to humanity’s deepest needs.
Jesus’ Compassion in the Face of Hunger
Pope Leo began by evoking the Gospel scene, where crowds lingered for hours in a desolate place, captivated by Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God and his healing of the sick. As evening fell, hunger emerged as a pressing challenge, compounded by the apostles’ suggestion to dismiss the crowd due to scarce resources. “The hunger of the people and the setting of the sun speak to us of a limit that looms over the world and every creature: the day ends, as does the life of every human being,” the Pope observed. Yet, he emphasized, Jesus remained present, surprising the apostles with his mercy.
Rather than sending the crowd away, Jesus instructed his disciples to feed them, transforming a moment of scarcity into one of abundance. “Five loaves and two fish seem completely inadequate,” the Pope noted, “but the disciples’ calculations, apparently so reasonable, reveal their lack of faith.” Jesus’ actions—raising his eyes, blessing, breaking, and sharing the bread—were not a “complicated magical rite” but a profound act of gratitude to the Father and fraternal communion inspired by the Holy Spirit. The result was miraculous: not only did everyone eat their fill, but twelve baskets of leftovers were collected, symbolizing God’s boundless generosity.
A Call to Share in a World of Inequity
Drawing a stark parallel to today’s world, Pope Leo decried the suffering of “entire peoples” caused not by their own hunger but by the greed of others. “In stark contrast to the dire poverty of many, the amassing of wealth by a few is the sign of an arrogant indifference that produces pain and injustice,” he said. This Jubilee Year, he argued, offers a unique opportunity to realign actions with Jesus’ example. “The Lord’s example is a yardstick that should guide our actions and our service: we are called to share our bread, to multiply hope, and to proclaim the coming of God’s Kingdom,” he urged, calling for a rejection of wastefulness in favour of equitable sharing of the earth’s resources and human labor.
The Holy Father highlighted the Eucharist as the ultimate expression of this sharing. By feeding the multitude, Jesus not only addressed physical hunger but also proclaimed his mission to save humanity from death. “Just as hunger is a sign of our radical needs in this life, so breaking bread is a sign of God’s gift of salvation,” he said, presenting the Eucharist as Christ’s self-gift, offered to all.
The Eucharist: Bread of Eternal Life
Delving into the theological significance of the Eucharist, Pope Leo described Jesus as the “bread of eternal life,” quoting his invitation: “Take this and eat of it, all of you!” He contrasted earthly food, which sustains life temporarily but cannot prevent death, with the Eucharistic bread, which unites believers with the living Christ. “When we partake of Jesus, the living and true Bread, we live for him,” he said, emphasizing that humanity’s “hungry nature” finds fulfillment in the grace of the Eucharist.
Citing Saint Augustine, the Pope called Christ “panis qui reficit, et non deficit; panis qui sumi potest, consumi non potest” (Serm. 130, 2)—bread that restores without running short, eaten but never exhausted. He further referenced the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1413), affirming the Eucharist as the “true, real, and substantial presence of the Savior,” who transforms bread into himself to transform believers into his Body, the Church. Quoting the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium (3), he noted that the Eucharist both expresses and achieves the unity of believers, forming them into one body in Christ, who is “the light of the world, from whom we come, through whom we live, and towards whom we direct our lives.”
The Eucharistic Procession as Public Witness
The Holy Father framed the Corpus Christi procession, which would follow the Mass, as a visible sign of this unity and mission. “Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him, and carry him through the streets,” he said, describing the procession as an act of presenting Jesus to “the eyes, the consciences, and the hearts of the people.” For believers, it is an invitation to deepen faith; for nonbelievers, a call to reflect on their inner hunger and the bread that satisfies it.
A Universal Invitation
Concluding with a note of hope, Pope Leo XIV declared, “Blessed are those who are called, for they become witnesses of this love!” He encouraged the faithful to draw strength from the Eucharist to combat indifference and foster communion in a fractured world.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican.va
Related Images:
