{"id":2325,"date":"2024-12-13T09:30:05","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T15:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/15\/pope-francis-christian-faith-that-does-not-work-for-the-poor-becomes-harmless-devotion\/"},"modified":"2024-12-15T09:36:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T15:36:59","slug":"pope-francis-christian-faith-that-does-not-work-for-the-poor-becomes-harmless-devotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/13\/pope-francis-christian-faith-that-does-not-work-for-the-poor-becomes-harmless-devotion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis: Christian faith that does not work for the poor becomes \u2018harmless devotion\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While we are not Catholic we recognize some of the truth in what the Pope is saying…<\/p>\n

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\"PopePope Francis: Christian faith that does not work for the poor becomes \u2018harmless devotion\u2019 VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Christian faith that does not disturb the powers that be and cannot generate a serious commitment to charity becomes an innocuous devotion, Pope Francis said. \u201cChristian hope, fulfilled in Jesus and realized in his kingdom, needs us and our commitment, needs our faith expressed in works of charity, needs Christians who do not look the other way,\u201d the pope said Nov. 17, celebrating Mass for the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica. \u201cWe are the ones that must make his grace shine forth through lives steeped in compassion and charity that become signs of the Lord\u2019s presence, always close to the suffering of the poor in order to heal their wounds and transform their fate,\u201d he said. Making an appeal to the entire Catholic Church, all world governments and international organizations, the pope said, \u201cPlease, let us not forget the poor.\u201d \u201cWhile one part of the world is condemned to live in the slums of history, while inequalities grow and the economy punishes the weakest, while society devotes itself to the idolatry of money and consumption, it so happens that the poor and marginalized have no choice but to continue to wait,\u201d he said. After praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square, Pope Francis highlighted the church in Italy\u2019s Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse Nov. 18. \u201cEvery abuse is a betrayal of trust and a betrayal of life. Prayer is indispensable for rebuilding trust.\u201d The pope then joined some 1,300 people invited to the Vatican audience hall to share lunch. The Italian Red Cross sponsored the meal, and its marching band provided entertainment. The Vincentian Fathers provided each of the pope\u2019s guests with a backpack containing food and hygiene items to take home. At the Mass, attended by men and women experiencing poverty and those assisting them, the pope focused his homily on \u201ctwo realities always at war upon the battlefield of our hearts: anguish and hope.\u201d \u201cFeelings of anguish are widespread in our age, given that social media amplifies problems and wounds, making the world more insecure and the future more uncertain,\u201d he said. But, he said, by looking at the very real problems of famine, the horrors of war and the deaths of the innocent, \u201cwe run the risk of falling into despondency and failing to recognize the presence of God within the drama of history\u201d and condemning \u201courselves to powerlessness.\u201d There is a risk of slipping \u201cinto the resigned way of thinking of those who, moved by convenience or laziness, think \u2018that\u2019s life\u2019 and \u2018there is nothing I can do about it.\u2019 Thus, Christian faith itself is reduced to a harmless devotion that does not disturb the powers that be and is incapable of generating a serious commitment to charity,\u201d the pope said. Yet it is precisely amid darkness and despair \u201cthat Jesus kindles hope,\u201d opening the horizon so that \u201cwe may learn to grasp the presence of God\u2019s love, which comes close to us, does not abandon us, and acts for our salvation,\u201d he said. Christians \u201ccan and must enkindle lights of justice and solidarity even as the shadows of our closed world deepen,\u201d he said. \u201cOur faith should lead us to open our eyes to the sufferings of the world and the misfortunes of the poor, and so exercise the very compassion of Jesus Christ,\u201d he said, asking the faithful to reflect on whether their hearts are moved to look at, touch and concretely help those experiencing difficulty or if they prefer to look away. \u201cThe Christian faith must generate in us a \u2018mysticism with open eyes,\u2019 not a spirituality that flees from the world,\u201d he said. The Catholic Church is not separate from the poor \u201cas if the church existed as an independent reality that must then care for the poor,\u201d Pope Francis said. \u201cThe reality is that we become the church of Jesus to the extent that we serve the poor.\u201d The pope encouraged the faithful also to pay attention to how they live each day, being attentive to their lifestyle and the environment, and to \u201ca tenacious pursuit of justice, dedication to sharing our goods with those who are poorer and the social and political commitment to improving reality around us.\u201d Before the Mass, the pope blessed 13 bronze keys as a symbolic gesture of his support of the \u201c13 Houses Jubilee Project,\u201d which is aimed at alleviating homelessness around the world. The Famvin Homeless Alliance, a network of religious orders and charitable organizations inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, said the 13 keys represent 13 countries where they will promote housing solutions during the Holy Year 2025. The \u201c13 Houses Campaign\u201d has housed and helped over 10,000 people in 70 countries since 2018 and it hopes its jubilee campaign will encourage more communities to become involved. As part of marking the World Day of the Poor, the Vatican extended the hours of its free medical clinic in St. Peter’s Square for the week, offering physical exams, vaccinations and blood tests to anyone in need with the help of volunteer doctors, nurses and lab technicians.<\/p>\n

This content was originally published here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we are not Catholic we recognize some of the truth in what the Pope is saying… Pope Francis: Christian faith that does not work for the poor becomes \u2018harmless devotion\u2019 VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Christian faith that does not disturb the powers that be and cannot generate a serious commitment to charity becomes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kHU7-Bv","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Pope-Francis-Christian-faith-that-does-not-work-for-the-poor-becomes-%E2%80%98harmless-devotion.JPG?fit=750%2C500","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2329,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions\/2329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}