“People are worth more than things, they are more valuable than any riches we possess”, Pope Francis has stressed.
The message from the pontiff came in a tweet published August 18 from the @Pontifex account, in which the Pope explained, in a nutshell, the authentic Catholic approach to riches and human dignity.
“Wealth can force us to build walls. Jesus, instead, invites His disciples to transform goods and riches into relationships, because people are worth more than things, they are more valuable than any riches we possess”, Francis wrote.
Just the day before, on August 17, the Pope had published another tweet on the proper Christian approach to money, goods and relationships.
“It is not the wealthy who bear fruit in life, but those who build and maintain many friendships through various ‘riches’, namely, through the various gifts God has given them”, Francis alerted on that occasion.
In his message for the World Day of the Poor 2020, to be celebrated on November 15, the Pope recalled that “in order to perform an act of worship acceptable to the Lord, we have to recognize that each person, even the poorest and most contemptible, is made in the image of God”.
“Generosity that supports the weak, consoles the afflicted, relieves suffering and restores dignity to those stripped of it, is a condition for a fully human life”, Francis explained.
“The decision to care for the poor, for their many different needs, cannot be conditioned by the time available or by private interests, or by impersonal pastoral or social projects. The power of God’s grace cannot be restrained by the selfish tendency to put ourselves always first”, the Pope warned.
The pontiff highlighted:
“Encountering the poor and those in need constantly challenges us and forces us to think. How can we help to eliminate or at least alleviate their marginalization and suffering? How can we help them in their spiritual need? The Christian community is called to be involved in this kind of sharing and to recognize that it cannot be delegated to others”.
More on Novena on the Church’s concern for the poor:
3/8: Angelus: Pope calls for “solidarity and creativity” to solve post-COVID poverty, unemployment
In new book preface, Pope says COVID-19 a wake-up call to global injustice, “cry of the poor and of our gravely diseased planet”
Pope: “There is no place, however dark it may be, where a ray of the good God cannot reach to warm hearts”
Pope clamours for World Day of Poor: “Time devoted to prayer can never become an alibi for neglecting our neighbour in need” (full text)
Cameron Doody
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