At noon today in Rome, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the usual Sunday appointment.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning; what beautiful sunshine!
The passage of the gospel chosen for this Sunday is made up of two parts: one which describes how followers of Christ ought not to be; the other which proposes an ideal example for Christians.
Let us begin with the first: what we ought not to do. In the first part, Jesus charges the scribes, masters of the law, with three defects which demonstrate their style of life: pride, greed and hypocrisy. Jesus says that they like to be greeted in the marketplaces, to have the primary places in the synagogues and to places of honour at banquets (Mk 12:38-39). But behind such solemn appearances, they hide falsities and injustices. While they strut about in public, they use their authority to devour the houses of widows (cf Mk 12:40), those who were considered, together with orphans and foreigners, to be the most vulnerable and least protected of people. Finally, the scribes pray for long periods in order to be seen (cf Mk 12:40). Even today, there is a risk of imitating such attitudes. For example, when we separate prayer from justice, because we cannot both worship God and harm the poor ... or when we say that we love God, and instead, use Him for the sake of our own vain glory or to our own advantage.
And following this line of reason, we find the second part of today's Gospel. The scene is set in the temple in Jerusalem, precisely in the place where the people throw money as offerings. There are many rich people who are paying a lot of money, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who puts in two mites, two small coins. Jesus observes attentively as the woman does this and draws the disciples' attention to the sharp contrast being portrayed in the scene. The rich have given, with great flourish, that which they have left over, while the widow, with discretion and humility, has given all that she had to live on (Mk 12:44); for this reason - Jesus says - she has given more than all the rest. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have given only one coin to the temple and kept the other for herself, but she did not want to give only half to God: she was content to deprive herself of everything. In her poverty, she understood that if we have God, we have everything; if we feel totally loved by God then we too can love totally. What a beautiful example this old woman gives!
Today, Jesus also says to us that the measure of justice is not quantity, but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have all the money in the world, but be empty: in the depth of your heart. Think about it, during this week, the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a question of one's portfolio, but of the heart. There is a difference between one's portfolio and one's heart ... There are cardiac illnesses, that can lower the heart to the level of a portfolio ... and this is bad! To love God with all your heart means trusting in Him, in his providence, and serving him in the poorest of our brothers and sisters without expecting anything in exchange.
Allow me to tell you a story, which happened in my previous diocese. There was a mother at table with three children; the father was at work; they were eating cutlets ... At that precise moment, there was a knock at the door and one of the children - they were small: 5, 6 and 7 years old - said: Mom, there is a beggar who is looking for something to eat. The mother, a good Christian, asked him: What should we do? - Let's give him something, mom ... - Fine. Taking the fork and the cutlets, she cut half off each one of them. Ah, no, mom, no! Not like that! Take something from the fridge. - No! We can make three sandwiches! And the sons learned that true charity comes not from what will do the giver good, but rather from giving what is needed. I am sure that that afternoon, they were still a bit hungry ... but that's the way it is!
Faced with the needs of others, we are called to deprive ourselves - like these children who gave away half of their cutlets - of something that is indispensable, not only of what we have left over; we are called to give the time that is needed, not only that which will help us; we care called to give right away, and without keeping anything back, until we have used what we have for our own good or for that of our group of friends.
Let us ask the Lord to admit us to the poor widow's school, so that Jesus, to the bewilderment of the disciples, might sit upon his throne and be seen as the true master of the living gospel. Through the intercession of Mary, the poor woman who gave her entire life to God for us, let us ask for the gift of a poor heart, but one that is rich in generosity, happy and free.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I know that many of you have been troubled by the news that has been circulating in recent days concerning some confidential documents which were stolen from the Holy See and published.
I want to tell you first of all that stealing such documents is a crime. It is a deplorable act that does not help. I myself have asked that this study be done, and as to these documents, my collaborators and I know them well; we have already begun to take some measures which have begun to bear fruit, some of which is already visible.
Therefore I want to assure you that this sad fact does not distract us from the work of reform that we are in the process of undertaking with my collaborators and with your support. Yes, with the support of all the Church, because the Church is being renewed through the prayer and the daily holiness of all the baptized.
Therefore, I thank you and I ask you to continue to pray for the Pope and for the Church; do not be disturbed, but continue with trust and hope.
Today in Italy, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, which this year has the theme: The soil, a common good. I join the bishops in hope that everyone will act as responsible stewards of this precious collective good, the land, whose fruits are meant for everyone. I am grateful to those who work in agriculture, and I encourage you all to cultivate the earth in a way that allows you to care for its fertility in order that it might produce food for everyone, today and for generations to come. In this context, in Rome, the Diocesan Day for the care of creation will be enriched this year by the March for the earth.
Tomorrow in Florence, the 5th National Ecclesial Convention will begin, with the presence of Bishops and delegates from all the dioceses in Italy. This is an important occasion for communion and reflection in which I too will have the joy of participating, on Wednesday, after a brief stop at Prato.
I greet you all with great affection, Romans and pilgrims alike ... especially the French students from the region of Paris, the faithful from Japan and from Poland, as well as those from Scandinavia. I greet the representatives of the Order of Preachers - Dominicans - who began yesterday the eighth centenary of their foundation. May the Lord bless you all on this occasion, and thank you very much for all that you do in and for the Church!
I wish you all a good Sunday. Don't forget to pray for me! Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning; what beautiful sunshine!
The passage of the gospel chosen for this Sunday is made up of two parts: one which describes how followers of Christ ought not to be; the other which proposes an ideal example for Christians.
Let us begin with the first: what we ought not to do. In the first part, Jesus charges the scribes, masters of the law, with three defects which demonstrate their style of life: pride, greed and hypocrisy. Jesus says that they like to be greeted in the marketplaces, to have the primary places in the synagogues and to places of honour at banquets (Mk 12:38-39). But behind such solemn appearances, they hide falsities and injustices. While they strut about in public, they use their authority to devour the houses of widows (cf Mk 12:40), those who were considered, together with orphans and foreigners, to be the most vulnerable and least protected of people. Finally, the scribes pray for long periods in order to be seen (cf Mk 12:40). Even today, there is a risk of imitating such attitudes. For example, when we separate prayer from justice, because we cannot both worship God and harm the poor ... or when we say that we love God, and instead, use Him for the sake of our own vain glory or to our own advantage.
And following this line of reason, we find the second part of today's Gospel. The scene is set in the temple in Jerusalem, precisely in the place where the people throw money as offerings. There are many rich people who are paying a lot of money, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who puts in two mites, two small coins. Jesus observes attentively as the woman does this and draws the disciples' attention to the sharp contrast being portrayed in the scene. The rich have given, with great flourish, that which they have left over, while the widow, with discretion and humility, has given all that she had to live on (Mk 12:44); for this reason - Jesus says - she has given more than all the rest. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have given only one coin to the temple and kept the other for herself, but she did not want to give only half to God: she was content to deprive herself of everything. In her poverty, she understood that if we have God, we have everything; if we feel totally loved by God then we too can love totally. What a beautiful example this old woman gives!
Today, Jesus also says to us that the measure of justice is not quantity, but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have all the money in the world, but be empty: in the depth of your heart. Think about it, during this week, the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a question of one's portfolio, but of the heart. There is a difference between one's portfolio and one's heart ... There are cardiac illnesses, that can lower the heart to the level of a portfolio ... and this is bad! To love God with all your heart means trusting in Him, in his providence, and serving him in the poorest of our brothers and sisters without expecting anything in exchange.
Allow me to tell you a story, which happened in my previous diocese. There was a mother at table with three children; the father was at work; they were eating cutlets ... At that precise moment, there was a knock at the door and one of the children - they were small: 5, 6 and 7 years old - said: Mom, there is a beggar who is looking for something to eat. The mother, a good Christian, asked him: What should we do? - Let's give him something, mom ... - Fine. Taking the fork and the cutlets, she cut half off each one of them. Ah, no, mom, no! Not like that! Take something from the fridge. - No! We can make three sandwiches! And the sons learned that true charity comes not from what will do the giver good, but rather from giving what is needed. I am sure that that afternoon, they were still a bit hungry ... but that's the way it is!
Faced with the needs of others, we are called to deprive ourselves - like these children who gave away half of their cutlets - of something that is indispensable, not only of what we have left over; we are called to give the time that is needed, not only that which will help us; we care called to give right away, and without keeping anything back, until we have used what we have for our own good or for that of our group of friends.
Let us ask the Lord to admit us to the poor widow's school, so that Jesus, to the bewilderment of the disciples, might sit upon his throne and be seen as the true master of the living gospel. Through the intercession of Mary, the poor woman who gave her entire life to God for us, let us ask for the gift of a poor heart, but one that is rich in generosity, happy and free.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I know that many of you have been troubled by the news that has been circulating in recent days concerning some confidential documents which were stolen from the Holy See and published.
I want to tell you first of all that stealing such documents is a crime. It is a deplorable act that does not help. I myself have asked that this study be done, and as to these documents, my collaborators and I know them well; we have already begun to take some measures which have begun to bear fruit, some of which is already visible.
Therefore I want to assure you that this sad fact does not distract us from the work of reform that we are in the process of undertaking with my collaborators and with your support. Yes, with the support of all the Church, because the Church is being renewed through the prayer and the daily holiness of all the baptized.
Therefore, I thank you and I ask you to continue to pray for the Pope and for the Church; do not be disturbed, but continue with trust and hope.
Today in Italy, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, which this year has the theme: The soil, a common good. I join the bishops in hope that everyone will act as responsible stewards of this precious collective good, the land, whose fruits are meant for everyone. I am grateful to those who work in agriculture, and I encourage you all to cultivate the earth in a way that allows you to care for its fertility in order that it might produce food for everyone, today and for generations to come. In this context, in Rome, the Diocesan Day for the care of creation will be enriched this year by the March for the earth.
Tomorrow in Florence, the 5th National Ecclesial Convention will begin, with the presence of Bishops and delegates from all the dioceses in Italy. This is an important occasion for communion and reflection in which I too will have the joy of participating, on Wednesday, after a brief stop at Prato.
I greet you all with great affection, Romans and pilgrims alike ... especially the French students from the region of Paris, the faithful from Japan and from Poland, as well as those from Scandinavia. I greet the representatives of the Order of Preachers - Dominicans - who began yesterday the eighth centenary of their foundation. May the Lord bless you all on this occasion, and thank you very much for all that you do in and for the Church!
I wish you all a good Sunday. Don't forget to pray for me! Enjoy your lunch and good bye.
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