(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
There is a little story that happened on the moment that Giorgio Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis. The story is that a Brasilian Cardinal who was seated at his side whispered to him: “DON’T FORGET THE POOR”.
And really, during all these years as a Pope, he never forgot the Poor, the excluded, the unlovable, the least, the last and the lost. In 2017 Pope Francis established the World Day of the Poor to be celebrated every year on the Sunday before the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. That is today, November 14, 2021). Every year the Pope sends a special Message with a special theme. This year, the Fifth World Day of the Poor, the theme is “The Poor you will always have with you” (Mk. 14:7). Here are some extracts of the message. However, we recommend that you read the entire message by using this link on the Vatican’s website:
The Poor you will always have with you
Love & Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade 14/11/2021
FROM POPE FRANCIS’ HEART – On the Fifth World Day Of The Poor
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE FIFTH WORLD DAY OF THE POOR
“The poor you will always have with you” (Mk 14:7)
…. In everything, Jesus teaches that poverty is not the result of fate, but a concrete sign pointing to his presence among us.…..
“They have much to teach us”…. “We are called to discover Christ in them, to lend them our voice in their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to understand them and to welcome the mysterious wisdom that God wants to communicate to us through them”.
…Many are the examples of saints who made mutual sharing with the poor their life project. I think, among others, of Father Damien de Veuster, the saintly apostle to the lepers. With great generosity, he answered the call to go to the island of Molokai, which had become a ghetto accessible only to lepers, to live and die with them. He rolled up his sleeves and did everything he could to improve the lives of those who were poor, ill and outcast. He became both doctor and nurse, heedless of the risks involved, and brought the light of love to that “colony of death”, as the island was then called. He himself contracted leprosy, which became the sign of his total sharing in the lot of the brothers and sisters for whom he had given his life. His testimony is most timely in our own days, marked by the coronavirus pandemic. The grace of God is surely at work in the hearts of all those who, without fanfare, spend themselves for the poorest, sharing with them in concrete ways.
….Last year we experienced yet another scourge that multiplied the numbers of the poor: the pandemic, which continues to affect millions of people and, even when it does not bring suffering and death, is nonetheless a portent of poverty. The poor have increased disproportionately and, tragically, they will continue to do so in the coming months. Some countries are suffering extremely severe consequences from the pandemic, so that the most vulnerable of their people lack basic necessities. The long lines in front of soup kitchens are a tangible sign of this deterioration.
… It is my hope that the celebration of the World Day of the Poor, now in its fifth year, will grow in our local Churches and inspire a movement of evangelization that meets the poor personally wherever they may be. We cannot wait for the poor to knock on our door; we need urgently to reach them in their homes, in hospitals and nursing homes, on the streets and in the dark corners where they sometimes hide, in shelters and reception centres. It is important to understand how they feel, what they are experiencing and what their hearts desire. ….
– FRANCISCUS