At Mass for the first World Day of the Poor, Francis warns against “the great sin of indifference: for it is an evangelical duty to take care of those who suffer”;
"In the poor, Jesus knocks on the doors of our heart, thirsting for our love. When we overcome our indifference and - Francis says - those who store up treasures for themselves, do not grow rich in the sight of God". And he adds, "for all of us are beggars when it comes to what is essential: God’s love, which gives meaning to our lives and a life without end".
Therefore, "no one can think that he or she is useless, so poor as to be incapable of giving something to others". In the homily of the Mass celebrated on the occasion of the first World Day of the Poor, the Pope takes inspiration from the Holy Scriptures to launch an appeal to the faithful who arrived from all over the world in St. Peter's Square, "let us not seek for ourselves more than we need, but rather what is good for others, and nothing of value will be lacking to us.” “To love the poor means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material.” And, he warns, "To 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". “It is sad when the Father of love does not receive a generous response of love from his children, who do no more than keep the rules and follow the commandments, like hired hands in the house of the Father".
In his meditation, the Pope looks at the temptation to consider oneself foreign to one's neighbour in difficulty, thinking “That doesn’t regard me; it’s not my business; it’s society’s problem”. An attitude that consists in "turning away from a brother or sister in need", in "changing channels as soon as a disturbing question comes up," and also in "growing indignant at evil but do nothing about it".
But, Francis points out, "God will not ask us if we felt righteous indignation, but whether we did some good". So "How, in practice can we please God? When we want to please someone dear to us, for example by giving a gift, we need first to know that person’s tastes, lest the gift prove more pleasing to the giver than to the recipient. When we want to offer something to the Lord, we can find his tastes in the Gospel.”
Therefore, the Pontiff invokes, "the Lord, who has compassion for our poverty and needs, and bestows his talents upon us, grant us the wisdom to seek what really matters, and the courage to love, not in words but in deeds.”
After reading the Gospel, Jorge Mario Bergoglio emphasizes that "We have the joy of breaking the bread of God’s word, and shortly, we will have the joy of breaking and receiving the Bread of the Eucharist, food for life’s journey. All of us, none excluded, need this". Therefore, “today too, we lift up our hands to him, asking to receive his gifts", Francis exhorts. And, just as the parable of the Gospel speaks of gifts, "It tells us that we have received talents from God, “according to ability of each”.
Therefore, the Pope recommends, "Before all else, let us realize this: we do have talents; in God’s eyes, we are “talented”. “We are chosen and blessed by God, who wants to fill us with his gifts, more than any father or mother does with their own children. And God, in whose eyes no child can be neglected, entrusts to each of us a mission.” According to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, "the loving and demanding Father that he is, he gives us responsibility". In fact, "In the parable, we see that each servant is given talents to use wisely. But whereas the first two servants do what they are charged, the third does not make his talents bear fruit; he gives back only what he had received." And he adds, “I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours”. This servant receives in exchange hard words, "wicked and lazy". The Pontiff askes “What made the Master displeased with him?” “To use a word that may sound a little old-fashioned but is still timely, I would say it was his omission. His evil was that of failing to do good. 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 "in this way we risk acting like the unworthy servant: he did no wrong, he didn’t waste the talent, in fact he kept it carefully hidden in the ground".
In fact, "The unworthy servant, despite receiving a talent from the Master who loves to share and multiply his gifts, guarded it jealously; he was content to keep it safe."
But, Francis warns, "someone concerned only to preserve and maintain the treasures of the past is not being faithful to God. Instead, the parable tells us, the one who adds new talents is truly “faithful”, because he sees things as God does; he does not stand still, but instead, out of love, takes risks. He puts his life on the line for others; he is not content to keep things as they are". And "One thing alone does he overlook: his own interest. That is the only right “omission”. The Pope quotes "the passage that we have heard today in which Jesus says, “Truly I tell you that, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”. And, the Pontiff explains, "These least of our brethren, whom he loves dearly, are the hungry and the sick, the stranger and the prisoner, the poor and the abandoned, the suffering who receive no help, the needy who are cast aside. On their faces we can imagine seeing Jesus’ own face; on their lips, even if pursed in pain, we can hear his words: “This is my body".
Therefore, " When we overcome our indifference and, in the name of Jesus, we give of ourselves for the least of his brethren, we are his good and faithful friends, with whom he loves to dwell. God greatly appreciates the attitude described in today’s first reading that of the “good wife”, who “opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy”. Here "we see true goodness and strength: not in closed fists and crossed arms, but in ready hands outstretched to the poor, to the wounded flesh of the Lord". There, in the poor, we find the presence of Jesus, who, though rich, became poor”. For this reason, “in them, in their weakness, a “saving power” is present. And if in the eyes of the world they have little value, they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven; they are our “passport to paradise”. And “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. To love the poor means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material.” And, Francis continues, "And it will also do us good".
In fact, "Drawing near to the poor in our midst will touch our lives. It will remind us of what really counts: to love God and our neighbour". And "Only this lasts forever, everything else passes away. What we invest in love remains, the rest vanishes."
Furthermore, "Today we might ask ourselves: “What counts for me in life? Where am I making my investments?” In fleeting riches, with which the world is never satisfied, or in the wealth bestowed by God, who gives eternal life? This is the choice before us: to live in order to gain things on earth, or to give things away in order to gain heaven. Where heaven is concerned, what matters is not what we have, but what we give".
At the end of Mass, the Pope recites the Angelus praying "for the men of the Argentine military submarine crew whose traces have been lost". In addition, the Pope states, "I would like to recall today in a special way the people who live painful poverty due to war and conflict, and therefore renew to the international community a heartfelt appeal to commit all possible efforts to promote peace, especially in the Middle East".
He then addressed "a special thought to the dear Lebanese people. I pray for the stability of the country, so that it can continue to be a message of respect and cohabitation for the whole Region and the whole world". God, the Pontiff assures, "has great esteem for us: this awareness helps us to be responsible people in all our actions". This "must give us courage, while fear always immobilizes us and often leads to wrong choices. Fear discourages us from taking initiatives, induces us to take refuge in safe and guaranteed solutions, and so we end up not doing anything good". And "to go forward and grow in the journey of life, we must have confidence, we must not think that God is a bad, hard and severe master who wants to punish us. If there is this wrong image of God within us, then our life cannot be fruitful, because we will live in fear and this will not lead us to anything constructive. “God - Jorge Mario Bergoglio underlines - is not a severe and intolerant master, but a father full of love, tenderness and goodness". Therefore, "We can and must have immense trust in Him. Jesus shows us the generosity and concern of the Father in many ways: with his word, with his gestures, with his welcoming all, especially sinners, little ones and the poor". In fact, "his warnings reveal his interest so that we do not unnecessarily waste our lives". And "the parable of talents reminds us of a personal responsibility and fidelity that becomes an ability to always put us back on our way along new paths, without hiding the talent, that is the gifts that God has entrusted to us, and of which we will be asked to account". Therefore "may the Holy Virgin intercede for us, so that we may remain faithful to God's will by making the talents of he has endowed us bear fruit, so that we may be useful to others and, on the last day, we will be welcomed by the Lord, who will invite us to take part in his joy". After reciting the Marian prayer, the Pope recalls that "today is also The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, instituted by the UN". The Pope encourages "public institutions in the commitment to prevention" and urges "drivers to prudence and compliance with regulations as the first form of protection for themselves and others".
