VATICAN CORNER
Pope Francis celebrated the first ever World Day of the Poor in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 19, 2017. There were between 6,000 and 7,000 people attending Mass, and about 4,000 of them were poor people who had been the invited special guests. Those special guests came from Italy, France, Poland, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg and they also participated in the Mass, filling the roles of altar servers, readers and presenters of the offertory gifts. Pope Francis preached about the Gospel, the “parable of the talents”, where the servant in the story who buried his master’s money was rebuked not because he did something wrong, but because he failed to do something good with what he was given. “All too often, we have the idea that we haven’t done anything wrong, and so we rest content, presuming that we are good and just, but do no wrong is not enough. God is not an inspector looking for unstamped tickets; he is a Father looking for children to whom he can entrust his property and his plans.” If in the eyes of the world, the poor they have little value, he said, “they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven; they are our ‘passport to paradise.’ For us it is an evangelical duty to care for them, as our real riches, and to do so not only by giving them bread, but also by breaking with them the bread of God’s word, which is addressed first to them.” Where the poor are concerned, the Pope said, too many people are often guilty of a sin of omission or indifference. Thinking it is “society’s problem” to solve, looking the other way when passing a beggar or changing the channel when the news shows something disturbing, are not Christian responses, he said. “God will not ask us if we felt righteous indignation, but whether we did some good.”…”In the poor, Jesus knocks on the doors or our heart, thirsting for our love,” Francis said. “True goodness and strength are shown not in closed fists and crossed arms, but in ready hands outstretched to the poor, to the wounded flesh of the Lord.” After Mass Pope Francis provided Sunday lunch in the adjoining Paul VI Hall for 1,500 of the poor people, and fed the remaining 2,500 in various other Vatican facilities. A Vatican chef prepared the meals which included gnocchi, veal bites, vegetables and tiramisu. Not only at the Vatican, but also parishes around the world held events organized to celebrate the World Day of the Poor. In Mumbai, Buenos Aires, and Washington D.C., to name a few, prayers and meals were shared with groups of poor people.
Sources: news.va, news.com.au, catholicnewsherald.com, cruxnow.com, catholicnewsagency.com
