At 10:00am this morning (4:00am EST), the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Solemnity of the Dedication of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Holy Father, Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the Eucharist within the Vatican Basilica on the occasion of the second World Day of the Poor. There were approximately 6,000 poor in attendance as well as volunteers who accompany them as well as exponents of many care organizations that work with the poor every day.
Let us look at three actions that Jesus does in the gospel.
First. In the middle of the day, he leaves: he leaves the crowd at the moment of success, when he is being acclaimed for having multiplied the loaves. And while the disciples want to enjoy the glory, he immediately forces them to leave and dismiss the crowd (cf Mt 14:22-23). Sought by people, he goes off alone; when everything is going downhill, he climbs the mountain to pray. Then, in the middle of the night, he descends from the mountain and walks on the wind-tossed waters. In all cases Jesus goes against the current: first he leaves success, then tranquility. This teaches us to have the courage to leave: to leave the success that swells the heart and the tranquility that puts the soul to sleep.
To go where? To God, praying, and to those in need, loving. They are the true treasures of life: God and our neighbour. Going up to God and going down to our brothers, this is the route indicated by Jesus. He distracts us from grazing unmolested in the comfortable plains of life, from idling vivaciously among the small daily satisfactions. Jesus' disciples are not made for the predictable tranquility of a normal life. Like the Lord Jesus they live their way, light, ready to leave the glories of the moment, careful not to attach themselves to the things that pass. The Christian knows that his country is elsewhere, he knows that he is already now - as the Apostle Paul recalls in the second reading - a fellow citizen of the saints and family of God (cf Eph 2:19). He is an agile wayfarer of existence. We do not live to accumulate things, our glory lies in leaving what passes in order to hold back what remains. We ask God to resemble the Church described in the first reading: always on the move, for she is an expert at leaving and faithful in serving (cf Acts 28: 11-14). Protect us, Lord, from idle calm, from the quiet calm of our safe harbours. Untie us from the moorings of self-referencing that weighs our life down, free us from the pursuit of our successes. Teach us Lord to know how to leave and to model the course of our lives on yours: towards God and toward others.
The second action: in the middle of the night Jesus encourages. He goes out to his own, immersed in the darkness, walking on the sea (Mt 14:25). In reality it was a lake, but the sea, with the depth of its subterranean darkness, evoked the forces of evil at that time. Jesus - in other words - goes out to meet his own people by trampling on the evil enemies of mankind. Here is the meaning of this sign: not a celebratory manifestation of power, but the revelation for us of the reassuring certainty that Jesus, only He, Jesus, triumphs over our greatest enemies: the devil, sin, death, fear, worldliness. Today too he says to us: Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid (Mt 14:27).
The boat of our life is often tossed by waves and shaken by winds, and when the waters are calm, they soon get excited again. Then we can manage with the storms of the moment, which seem to be our only problems. But the problem is not the storm of the moment, it is how you navigate in life. The secret of navigating well is to invite Jesus on board. The rudder of life must be given to him, so that he can manage the route. He alone gives life in death and hope in pain; only He heals the heart with forgiveness and frees us from fear in order to build trust. Today we invite Jesus into the boat of our life. Like the disciples, we will experience the truth that with him on board the winds are calmed (cf Mt 14:32) and never causes a shipwreck. With Him on board we are never shipwrecked! And it is only with Jesus that we become able to encourage ourselves too. There is a great need for people who know how to console, but not with empty words; rather, they do this with words of life, with gestures of life. In the name of Jesus, true consolation is given. Not formal and obvious encouragement, but the presence of Jesus who restores. Strengthen our hearts O Lord: comforted by you, we will be true comforters for others.
And the third of Jesus' actions: in the middle of the storm, he extends his hand (cf Mt 14:31). He grabs Peter who is fearful, filled with doubt and, sinking, as he cries out: Lord, save me! (Mt 14:30). We can put ourselves in the shoes of Peter: we are people of little faith and we are here to beg for salvation. We are poor in real life and we need the extended hand of the Lord, who pulls us out of evil. This is the beginning of faith: emptying ourselves of the proud conviction to believe that everything is ok, that we can rely on ourselves, and so that we can recognize that we are in need of salvation. Faith grows in this climate, a climate that is adapted by standing with those who do not stand on the pedestal, but they need and ask for help. For this reason, living faith in contact with the needy is important for all of us. It is not a sociological option, it is not the fashion of a pontificate, it is a theological need. It is recognizing ourselves as pleading for salvation, brothers and sisters of all people, but especially of the poor who are beloved by the Lord. In this way, we discover the spirit of the Gospel: the spirit of poverty and love - says the Council - is in fact the glory and the sign of the Church of Christ (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes, 88).
Jesus heard Peter's cry. We ask for the grace to hear the cry of those who live in stormy waters. The cry of the poor: it is the strangled cry of children who cannot be heard, of little ones who suffer from hunger, of boys accustomed to the roar of bombs rather than the happy shouts of games. It is the cry of the elderly who have been discarded and left alone. It is the cry of those who face the storms of life without a friendly presence. It is the cry of those who must flee, leaving their houses and their land without the certainty of a destiny. It is the cry of entire populations, also deprived of the huge natural resources available to them. It is the cry of the many like Lazarus who cry, while few rich men and women feast on the justice that rests with everyone. Injustice is the perverse root of poverty. The cry of the poor grows stronger every day, but every day, less and less people seem to be listening. Every day the cry is louder, but every day it is less listened to, overwhelmed by the noise of a few rich people, who are always less in number and always growing richer.
In the face of trampled human dignity, one often remains standing with folded arms or with arms open, powerless in the face of the dark force of evil. But the Christian can not stand with his arms folded, indifferent, or with open arms, fatalistic, no. The believer extends his hand, as Jesus does with him. With God the cry of the poor is heard. I ask: and what about us? Do we have eyes to see, ears to hear, hands outstretched and ready to help ... or do we repeat the words come back tomorrow? Christ himself, in the person of the poor, recalls the love of his disciples in a loud voice (GS, 88). He asks us to recognize him in those who are hungry and thirsty; he is a stranger and stripped of dignity, sick and imprisoned (cf Mt 25:35-36).
The Lord extends his hand: this is a free gesture, not something that he is compelled to do. This is how it is done. We are not called to do good only to those who love us. It is normal to return good for good, but Jesus asks to go further (cf Mt 5:46): he asks us to give to those who do not have anything to give back, to love for free (cf Lk 6: 32-36). Let us look at our own times: among many things, do we do something freely, something for others without compelling them to reciprocate? That will be our outstretched hand, our true wealth in heaven.
Hold out your hand to us, Lord, and affirm us. Help us to love as you love us. Teach us to leave behind all that is passing, to encourage those who are around us, to give freely to those who are in need. Amen.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
during the Mass celebrated for the
Second World Day of the Poor
Let us look at three actions that Jesus does in the gospel.
First. In the middle of the day, he leaves: he leaves the crowd at the moment of success, when he is being acclaimed for having multiplied the loaves. And while the disciples want to enjoy the glory, he immediately forces them to leave and dismiss the crowd (cf Mt 14:22-23). Sought by people, he goes off alone; when everything is going downhill, he climbs the mountain to pray. Then, in the middle of the night, he descends from the mountain and walks on the wind-tossed waters. In all cases Jesus goes against the current: first he leaves success, then tranquility. This teaches us to have the courage to leave: to leave the success that swells the heart and the tranquility that puts the soul to sleep.
To go where? To God, praying, and to those in need, loving. They are the true treasures of life: God and our neighbour. Going up to God and going down to our brothers, this is the route indicated by Jesus. He distracts us from grazing unmolested in the comfortable plains of life, from idling vivaciously among the small daily satisfactions. Jesus' disciples are not made for the predictable tranquility of a normal life. Like the Lord Jesus they live their way, light, ready to leave the glories of the moment, careful not to attach themselves to the things that pass. The Christian knows that his country is elsewhere, he knows that he is already now - as the Apostle Paul recalls in the second reading - a fellow citizen of the saints and family of God (cf Eph 2:19). He is an agile wayfarer of existence. We do not live to accumulate things, our glory lies in leaving what passes in order to hold back what remains. We ask God to resemble the Church described in the first reading: always on the move, for she is an expert at leaving and faithful in serving (cf Acts 28: 11-14). Protect us, Lord, from idle calm, from the quiet calm of our safe harbours. Untie us from the moorings of self-referencing that weighs our life down, free us from the pursuit of our successes. Teach us Lord to know how to leave and to model the course of our lives on yours: towards God and toward others.
The second action: in the middle of the night Jesus encourages. He goes out to his own, immersed in the darkness, walking on the sea (Mt 14:25). In reality it was a lake, but the sea, with the depth of its subterranean darkness, evoked the forces of evil at that time. Jesus - in other words - goes out to meet his own people by trampling on the evil enemies of mankind. Here is the meaning of this sign: not a celebratory manifestation of power, but the revelation for us of the reassuring certainty that Jesus, only He, Jesus, triumphs over our greatest enemies: the devil, sin, death, fear, worldliness. Today too he says to us: Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid (Mt 14:27).
The boat of our life is often tossed by waves and shaken by winds, and when the waters are calm, they soon get excited again. Then we can manage with the storms of the moment, which seem to be our only problems. But the problem is not the storm of the moment, it is how you navigate in life. The secret of navigating well is to invite Jesus on board. The rudder of life must be given to him, so that he can manage the route. He alone gives life in death and hope in pain; only He heals the heart with forgiveness and frees us from fear in order to build trust. Today we invite Jesus into the boat of our life. Like the disciples, we will experience the truth that with him on board the winds are calmed (cf Mt 14:32) and never causes a shipwreck. With Him on board we are never shipwrecked! And it is only with Jesus that we become able to encourage ourselves too. There is a great need for people who know how to console, but not with empty words; rather, they do this with words of life, with gestures of life. In the name of Jesus, true consolation is given. Not formal and obvious encouragement, but the presence of Jesus who restores. Strengthen our hearts O Lord: comforted by you, we will be true comforters for others.
And the third of Jesus' actions: in the middle of the storm, he extends his hand (cf Mt 14:31). He grabs Peter who is fearful, filled with doubt and, sinking, as he cries out: Lord, save me! (Mt 14:30). We can put ourselves in the shoes of Peter: we are people of little faith and we are here to beg for salvation. We are poor in real life and we need the extended hand of the Lord, who pulls us out of evil. This is the beginning of faith: emptying ourselves of the proud conviction to believe that everything is ok, that we can rely on ourselves, and so that we can recognize that we are in need of salvation. Faith grows in this climate, a climate that is adapted by standing with those who do not stand on the pedestal, but they need and ask for help. For this reason, living faith in contact with the needy is important for all of us. It is not a sociological option, it is not the fashion of a pontificate, it is a theological need. It is recognizing ourselves as pleading for salvation, brothers and sisters of all people, but especially of the poor who are beloved by the Lord. In this way, we discover the spirit of the Gospel: the spirit of poverty and love - says the Council - is in fact the glory and the sign of the Church of Christ (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes, 88).
Jesus heard Peter's cry. We ask for the grace to hear the cry of those who live in stormy waters. The cry of the poor: it is the strangled cry of children who cannot be heard, of little ones who suffer from hunger, of boys accustomed to the roar of bombs rather than the happy shouts of games. It is the cry of the elderly who have been discarded and left alone. It is the cry of those who face the storms of life without a friendly presence. It is the cry of those who must flee, leaving their houses and their land without the certainty of a destiny. It is the cry of entire populations, also deprived of the huge natural resources available to them. It is the cry of the many like Lazarus who cry, while few rich men and women feast on the justice that rests with everyone. Injustice is the perverse root of poverty. The cry of the poor grows stronger every day, but every day, less and less people seem to be listening. Every day the cry is louder, but every day it is less listened to, overwhelmed by the noise of a few rich people, who are always less in number and always growing richer.
In the face of trampled human dignity, one often remains standing with folded arms or with arms open, powerless in the face of the dark force of evil. But the Christian can not stand with his arms folded, indifferent, or with open arms, fatalistic, no. The believer extends his hand, as Jesus does with him. With God the cry of the poor is heard. I ask: and what about us? Do we have eyes to see, ears to hear, hands outstretched and ready to help ... or do we repeat the words come back tomorrow? Christ himself, in the person of the poor, recalls the love of his disciples in a loud voice (GS, 88). He asks us to recognize him in those who are hungry and thirsty; he is a stranger and stripped of dignity, sick and imprisoned (cf Mt 25:35-36).
The Lord extends his hand: this is a free gesture, not something that he is compelled to do. This is how it is done. We are not called to do good only to those who love us. It is normal to return good for good, but Jesus asks to go further (cf Mt 5:46): he asks us to give to those who do not have anything to give back, to love for free (cf Lk 6: 32-36). Let us look at our own times: among many things, do we do something freely, something for others without compelling them to reciprocate? That will be our outstretched hand, our true wealth in heaven.
Hold out your hand to us, Lord, and affirm us. Help us to love as you love us. Teach us to leave behind all that is passing, to encourage those who are around us, to give freely to those who are in need. Amen.
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