On Tuesday of this week, the Vatican Press Office
published the text of His Holiness, Pope Francis’ Message for the upcoming
season of Lent which will begin on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
Message of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for Lent 2014
for Lent 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As Lent draws near, I would like to offer some helpful
thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a community. These
insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was
rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become
rich" (2 Cor 8:9). The Apostle was writing to the Christians of
Corinth to encourage them to be generous in helping the faithful in Jerusalem
who were in need. What do these words of Saint Paul mean for us Christians
today? What does this invitation to poverty, a life of evangelical poverty,
mean for us today?
Christ’s grace
First of all, it shows us how God works. He does not
reveal himself cloaked in worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness and
poverty: though He was rich, yet for your
sake he became poor … Christ, the eternal Son of God, one with the Father
in power and glory, chose to be poor; he came amongst us and drew near to each
of us; he set aside his glory and emptied himself so that he could be like us
in all things (cf. Phil 2:7; Heb 4:15). God’s becoming man is a
great mystery! But the reason for all this is his love, a love which is grace,
generosity, a desire to draw near, a love which does not hesitate to offer
itself in sacrifice for the beloved. Charity, love, is sharing with the one we
love in all things. Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down
walls and eliminates distances. God did this with us. Indeed, Jesus worked with human hands, thought with a
human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the
Virgin Mary, he truly became one of us, like us in all things except sin (Gaudium et Spes, 22).
By making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for
its own sake but, as Saint Paul says that by his poverty you might become
rich. This is no mere play on words or a catch phrase. Rather, it sums up
God’s logic, the logic of love, the logic of the incarnation and the cross. God
did not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms from
their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s love is
different! When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by
John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in need of repentance, or
conversion; he did it to be among people who need forgiveness, among us
sinners, and to take upon himself the burden of our sins. In this way he chose
to comfort us, to save us, to free us from our misery. It is striking that the
Apostle states that we were set free, not by Christ’s riches but by his
poverty. Yet Saint Paul is well aware of the the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8), that he is heir to all things (Heb 1:2).
So what is this poverty by which Christ frees us and
enriches us? It is his way of loving us, his way of being our neighbour, just
as the Good Samaritan was neighbour to the man left half dead by the side of
the road (cf. Lk 10:25ff ). What gives us true freedom, true
salvation and true happiness is the compassion, tenderness and solidarity of
his love. Christ’s poverty which enriches us is his taking flesh and bearing
our weaknesses and sins as an expression of God’s infinite mercy to us.
Christ’s poverty is the greatest treasure of all: Jesus’ wealth is that of his
boundless confidence in God the Father, his constant trust, his desire always
and only to do the Father’s will and give glory to him. Jesus is rich in the
same way as a child who feels loved and who loves its parents, without doubting
their love and tenderness for an instant. Jesus’ wealth lies in his being the
Son; his unique relationship with the Father is the sovereign prerogative
of this Messiah who is poor. When Jesus asks us to take up his yoke which is easy, he asks us to be
enriched by his poverty which is rich
and his richness which is poor, to
share his filial and fraternal Spirit, to become sons and daughters in the Son,
brothers and sisters in the firstborn brother (cf. Rom 8:29).
It has been said that the only real regret lies in not
being a saint (L. Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of
poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.
Our witness
We might think that this way of poverty was Jesus’ way, whereas we who come after him can
save the world with the right kind of human resources. This is not the case. In
every time and place God continues to save mankind and the world through the
poverty of Christ, who makes himself poor in the sacraments, in his word
and in his Church, which is a people of the poor. God’s wealth passes not
through our wealth, but invariably and exclusively through our personal and
communal poverty, enlivened by the Spirit of Christ.
In imitation of our Master, we Christians are called to
confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our
own and to take practical steps to alleviate it. Destitution is not the
same as poverty: destitution is poverty without faith, without support,
without hope. There are three types of destitution: material, moral and
spiritual. Material destitution is what is normally called poverty, and
affects those living in conditions opposed to human dignity: those who lack
basic rights and needs such as food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity
to develop and grow culturally. In response to this destitution, the Church
offers her help, her diakonia, in meeting these needs and binding these
wounds which disfigure the face of humanity. In the poor and outcast we see
Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ. Our
efforts are also directed toward ending violations of human dignity,
discrimination and abuse in the world, for these are so often the cause of
destitution. When power, luxury and money become idols, they take priority over
the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our consciences thus need to be
converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing.
No less a concern is moral destitution, which
consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families
because one of their members – often a young person - is enthralled with
alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see meaning
in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope! And how many are
plunged into this destitution by unjust social conditions, by unemployment,
which takes away their dignity as breadwinners, and by lack of equal access to
education and health care. In such cases, moral destitution can be considered
impending suicide. This type of destitution, which also causes financial ruin,
is invariably linked to the spiritual destitution which we experience
when we turn away from God and reject his love. If we think we don’t need God
who reaches out to us through Christ, because we believe we can make do on our
own, we are headed for a fall. God alone can truly save and free us.
The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution:
wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating news
that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is greater than our
sinfulness, that he freely loves us at all times and that we were made for
communion and eternal life. The Lord asks us to be joyous heralds of this
message of mercy and hope! It is thrilling to experience the joy of spreading
this good news, sharing the treasure entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts
and offering hope to our brothers and sisters experiencing darkness. It means
following and imitating Jesus, who sought out the poor and sinners as a
shepherd lovingly seeks his lost sheep. In union with Jesus, we can
courageously open up new paths of evangelization and human promotion.
Dear brothers and sisters, may this Lenten season find
the whole Church ready to bear witness to all those who live – in the midst of
material, moral and spiritual destitution - the Gospel message of the merciful
love of God our Father, who is ready to embrace everyone in Christ. We can do
this to the extent that we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by
his poverty. Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask
ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own
poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real
without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and
does not hurt.
May the Holy Spirit, through whom we are as poor, yet making many rich; as having
nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Cor 6:10), sustain us in
our resolutions and increase our concern and responsibility for human
destitution, so that we can become merciful and act with mercy. In expressing this
hope, I likewise pray that each individual member of the faithful and every
Church community will undertake a fruitful Lenten journey. I ask all of you to
pray for me. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you safe.
From the Vatican, 26 December 2013
Feast of Saint Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr
Feast of Saint Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr
Francis
No comments:
Post a Comment