VATICAN CITY — As the rich get richer, the increasing misery and
cries of the poor are ignored every day, Pope Francis said.
"We Christians cannot stand with arms folded in
indifference" or thrown up in the air in helpless resignation, the pope
said in his homily Nov. 18, the World Day of the Poor.
"As believers, we must stretch out our hands as Jesus does
with us," freely and lovingly offering help to the poor and all those in
need, the pope said at the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. About 6,000 poor
people attended the Mass as special guests; they were joined by volunteers and
others who assist disadvantaged communities.
After the Mass and Angelus, the pope joined some 1,500 poor
people in the Vatican's audience hall for a multi-course lunch. Many parishes,
schools and volunteer groups across Rome also offered a number of services and
meals for the poor that day.
God always hears the cries of those in need, the pope said in his
homily at the Mass, but what about "us? Do we have eyes to see, ears to
hear, hands outstretched to offer help?"
Pope Francis urged everyone to pray for the grace to hear the
cries of all the poor: "the stifled cry of the unborn, of starving
children, of young people more used to the explosion of bombs than happy shouts
of the playground."
May people hear the cry of the abandoned elderly, those who lack
any support, refugees and "entire peoples deprived even of the great
natural resources at their disposal," he said.
Referring to the Gospel story of the poor man begging for scraps,
Pope Francis many people today are just like Lazarus and "weep while the
wealthy few feast on what, in justice, belongs to all. Injustice is the
perverse root of poverty."
Every day, he said, the cry of the poor becomes louder, but it is
increasingly ignored. Their cries are "drowned out by the din of the rich
few, who grow ever fewer and more rich," he said.
The pope reflected on St. Matthew's account of what Jesus did
after he fed thousands with just five loaves and two fish. The passage (Mt 14:
22-32) explains that instead of gloating or basking in the glory of
successfully feeding so many people, Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray.
"He teaches us the courage to leave, to leave behind the
success that swells the heart and the tranquility that deadens the soul,"
the pope said.
But then Jesus goes back down the mountain to the people who
still need him, he said.
"This is the road Jesus tells us to take — to go up to God
and to come down to our brothers and sisters," to tear oneself away from a
life of ease and comfort and leave behind fleeting pleasures, glories and
superfluous possessions, the pope said.
Jesus sets people free from the things that do not matter so they
will be able to embrace the true treasures in life: God and one's neighbor, he
added.
The other event in the passage according to St. Matthew, the pope
said, is how the storm and the winds died down after Jesus got into the boat
carrying his frightened disciples.
The secret to navigating life and its momentary storms, the pope
said, "is to invite Jesus on board. The rudder of life must be surrendered
to him" because it is he who gives life, hope, healing and freedom from
fear.
The third thing Jesus does is stretch out his hand to Peter, who,
in his fear and doubt, is sinking in the water.
Everyone wants true life and needs the hand of the Lord to save them
from evil, the pope said.
"This is the beginning of faith — to cast off the pride that
makes us feel self-sufficient and to realize that we are in need of
salvation," he said. "Faith grows in this climate" of being not
on a pedestal aloof from the world but with those crying for help.
"This is why it is important for all of us to live our faith
in contact with those in need," the pope said. "This is not a
sociological option or a pontifical fad. It is a theological requirement"
to acknowledge one's own spiritual poverty and that everyone, especially the
poor, is pleading for salvation.
"Rouse us, Lord, from our idle calm, from the quiet lull of
our safe harbors. Set us free from the moorings of self-absorption that weigh
life down; free us from constantly seeking success. Teach us to know how to
'leave' in order to set out on the road you have shown us: to God and our
neighbor," he said.
The pope established the World Day of the Poor to encourage the
whole church to reach out to those in need and let the poor know their cries
have not gone unheard, the pope said in his message this year.
U.N. groups estimate there are some 700 million people in the
world who are unable to meet their basic needs and that 10 percent of the
world's population lives in extreme poverty.