Shortly after becoming Pope, the man who took his name from Francis of Assisi, said in an interview, “Without a solution to the problems of the poor, we cannot resolve the problems of the world.” Although the world has moved in a different way, Pope Francis never gave up his message that our Christian faith must care for the marginalized and those shut out of the centers of power.
Francis’ symbolic acts were more than merely symbolic, as our acts must be. Perhaps he did not seek to be the conscience of the world, but much of his work reflected that manner. Those of us who are not Roman Catholic must mourn the death of a man who attempted to reflect the words of Jesus and care for the poor.
And many of us must wonder what he said to the Catholic J.D. Vance, who has spoken out against immigrants and supports policies that gut services to the poor. When we see a political leadership that calls itself Christian and then panders to hate and fear, we must do more than wonder. We must act.
Prayer for the Day
Coming to you, Root of all compassion and love,
We ask to be like the tree that grows from your good earth;
Searching for ways to share your life-giving love,
We know they are found in the faces about us.
Hold us in community together, hold us in love,
So that the peace we share erupt as a spring in a rock.
In the name of the One who is your root,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. ..Humanity is called to recognize the changes for need for changes in lifestyle, production, and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it.
Pope Francis, from the encyclical Laudato Si (2018)
It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants. To repel migrants. And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin. Let us not forget what the Bible tells us: ‘You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him.
Pope Francis at G7 Summit, June 18, 2024
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.
Jesus in Matthew 25:40