The Holy See released today the text of His Holiness Pope Francis' Message for Lent 2014, which here follows (with my
emphases and
comments):
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As Lent draws near, I would like to offer
some helpful thoughts on our path of conversion as individuals and as a
community [this is, after all, what Lent is all about, though we sometimes forget it]. These insights are inspired by the words of Saint Paul: “For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might
become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). The Apostle was writing to the Christians of
Corinth to encourage them to be generous in helping the faithful in
Jerusalem who were in need. What do these words of Saint Paul mean for
us Christians today? What does this invitation to poverty, a life of
evangelical poverty, mean to us today?
Christ’s grace
First of
all, it shows us how God works. He does not reveal himself cloaked in
worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness and poverty: “though He
was rich, yet for your sake he became poor …”. Christ, the eternal Son
of God, one with the Father in power and glory, chose to be poor; he
came amongst us and drew near to each of us; he set aside his glory and
emptied himself so that he could be like us in all things (cf. Phil 2:7;
Heb 4:15). God’s becoming man is a great mystery! But the reason for
all this is his love, a love which is grace, generosity, a desire to
draw near, a love which does not hesitate to offer itself in sacrifice
for the beloved. Charity, love, is sharing with the one we love in all
things. Love makes us similar, it creates equality, it breaks down walls
and eliminates distances. God did this with us. Indeed, Jesus “worked
with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and
loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, he truly became one
of us, like us in all things except sin” (Gaudium et Spes, 22).
By
making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for its own sake but,
as Saint Paul says “that by his poverty you might become rich”. This is
no mere play on words or a catch phrase. Rather, it sums up God’s logic,
the logic of love [I can't quite remember why, but that phrase - the logic of love - reminds me very much of the writings of Benedict XVI. Did Ratzinger/Benedict use this phrase? It seems to me he did, though I'm not certain where], the logic of the incarnation and the cross. God did
not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms
from their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s
love is different! When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and
was baptized by John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in need
of repentance, or conversion; he did it to be among people who need
forgiveness, among us sinners, and to take upon himself the burden of
our sins. In this way he chose to comfort us, to save us, to free us
from our misery. It is striking that the Apostle states that we were set
free, not by Christ’s riches but by his poverty. Yet Saint Paul is well
aware of the “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8), that he is
“heir of all things” (Heb 1:2).
So what is this poverty by which
Christ frees us and enriches us? It is his way of loving us, his way of
being our neighbour, just as the Good Samaritan was neighbour to the man
left half dead by the side of the road (cf. Lk 10:25ff). What gives us
true freedom, true salvation and true happiness is the compassion,
tenderness and solidarity of his love. Christ’s poverty which enriches
us is his taking flesh and bearing our weaknesses and sins as an
expression of God’s infinite mercy to us. Christ’s poverty is the
greatest treasure of all: Jesus wealth is that of his boundless
confidence in God the Father, his constant trust, his desire always and
only to do the Father’s will and give glory to him. Jesus is rich in the
same way as a child who feels loved and who loves its parents, without
doubting their love and tenderness for an instant. Jesus’ wealth lies in
his being the Son; his unique relationship with the Father is the
sovereign prerogative of this Messiah who is poor. When Jesus asks us to
take up his “yoke which is easy”, he asks us to be enriched by his
“poverty which is rich” and his “richness which is poor”, to share his
filial and fraternal Spirit, to become sons and daughters in the Son,
brothers and sisters in the firstborn brother (cf. Rom 8:29).
It
has been said that the only real regret lies in not being a saint (L.
Bloy); we could also say that there is only one real kind of poverty:
not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.
Our witness
We
might think that this “way” of poverty was Jesus’ way, whereas we who
come after him can save the world with the right kind of human
resources. This is not the case. In every time and place God continues
to save mankind and the world through the poverty of Christ, who makes
himself poor in the sacraments, in his word and in his Church, which is a
people of the poor. God’s wealth passes not through our wealth, but
invariably and exclusively through our personal and communal poverty,
enlivened by the Spirit of Christ.
In imitation of our Master, we
Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and
sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to
alleviate it. Destitution is not the same as poverty: destitution is
poverty without faith, without support, without hope. There are three
types of destitution: material, moral and spiritual. Material
destitution is what is normally called poverty, and affects those living
in conditions opposed to human dignity: those who lack basic rights and
needs such as food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity to develop
and grow culturally. In response to this destitution, the Church offers
her help, her diakonia, in meeting these needs and binding these wounds
which disfigure the face of humanity. In the poor and outcast we see
Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ.
Our efforts are also directed to ending violations of human dignity,
discrimination and abuse in the world, for these are so often the cause
of destitution. When power, luxury and money become idols, they take
priority over the need for a fair distribution of wealth. Our
consciences thus need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity
and sharing.
No less a concern is moral destitution, which
consists in slavery to vice and sin. How much pain is caused in families
because one of their members – often a young person - is in thrall to
alcohol, drugs, gambling or pornography! How many people no longer see
meaning in life or prospects for the future, how many have lost hope!
And how many are plunged into this destitution by unjust social
conditions, by unemployment, which takes away their dignity as
breadwinners, and by lack of equal access to education and health care.
In such cases, moral destitution can be considered impending suicide.
This type of destitution, which also causes financial ruin, is
invariably linked to the spiritual destitution which we experience when
we turn away from God and reject his love. If we think we don’t need God
who reaches out to us though Christ, because we believe we can make do
on our own, we are headed for a fall. God alone can truly save and free
us.
The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution:
wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating
news that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is
greater than our sinfulness, that he freely loves us at all times and
that we were made for communion and eternal life. The Lord asks us to be
joyous heralds of this message of mercy and hope! It is thrilling to
experience the joy of spreading this good news, sharing the treasure
entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts and offering hope to our
brothers and sisters experiencing darkness. It means following and
imitating Jesus, who sought out the poor and sinners as a shepherd
lovingly seeks his lost sheep. In union with Jesus, we can courageously
open up new paths of evangelization and human promotion.
Dear
brothers and sisters, may this Lenten season find the whole Church ready
to bear witness to all those who live in material, moral and spiritual
destitution the Gospel message of the merciful love of God our Father,
who is ready to embrace everyone in Christ. We can so [sic] this to the extent
that we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty.
Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask
ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our
own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial
is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that
costs nothing and does not hurt.
May the Holy Spirit, through whom we
are “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing everything” (2 Cor 6:10), sustain us in our resolutions and
increase our concern and responsibility for human destitution, so that
we can become merciful and act with mercy. In expressing this hope, I
likewise pray that each individual member of the faithful and every
Church community will undertake a fruitful Lenten journey. I ask all of
you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and Our Lady keep you safe.
From the Vatican, 26 December 2013, Feast of Saint Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr
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