Jesus wants us to share His compassion, Pope Francis says

Pope Francis urged Christians to follow Jesus Christ's example by sharing compassion with other people.

The 79-year-old Argentine pope discussed last Wednesday during his weekly general audience what it meant when Jesus performed the miraculous feeding of thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and three pieces of fish.

"The Lord goes out to meet the needs of men and women and wants to make each one of us concretely share in his compassion," Pope Francis told a crowd of thousands at the Paul VI audience hall, as reported by the Catholic News Service (CNS).

In order to follow Christ's example, the pope taught the crowd to take on Christ's example of mercy and attention for other people. The story of the miracle of the loaves and pieces of fish then meant an invitation for Christians to serve or to "feed the people and keep them united."

"We believers who receive this bread are compelled by Jesus to bring this service to others with the same compassion of Jesus. This is the path," said the pope.

A world-renowned Italian master chef, who owns Osteria Francescana in Modena, recently proclaimed as the best restaurant in the world, said Pope Francis renewed his Christian faith and inspired him to feed the homeless and the poor as the pope famously uttered "Buon pranzo!" ("Good lunch!").

"Introducing himself with those words reminds everyone to start each day with humility, and humility is the most important thing," Massimo Bottura told The New York Times "because from there others are going to follow you."

Bottura ventured on a project last year on which he restored a run-down theater into Refettorio Ambrosiano, where he transformed food waste from last summer's Expo Milano into feasts for the refugees and working poor in Milan's Greco neighborhood.

The highly acclaimed restaurateur repeated his project with a gourmet soup kitchen in Rio de Janeiro, RefettoRio Gastromotiva, where Bottura served three-course meals to the homeless using the food waste and surplus from the Olympic village.