Keynote Address PANASCO of the St Vincent de Paul Society Kuala Lumpur, 2 October 2014 Introduction When I was a young priest in the Cathedral parish of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, I came into direct contact with the St Vincent de Paul Society and learned first-hand of the noble ministry that it undertakes often in a quiet and unassuming manner in favor of the poor, the forgotten and marginalized, simply put, for those that everyone has forgotten and worse still may not even know that they exist. That has been the case ever since 1833 when Blessed Frederic Ozanam and companions founded this outstanding association in the Church. Without going into the details of the creation of this association, that you surely know, I am convinced that what must have inspired Blessed Frederic, when faced with the real situation around him, was the question: “What does God want me to do?” In many ways, it is the question that every Christian should ask. In fact, we are praying it each time we recite the prayer that Jesus himself gave us. Indeed, after praising the holy name of God in the Our Father, the first thing that we ask of him is “thy will be done”, and this is the theme of your meeting. This prayer to do God’s will is more than just an indication that we will accept whatever comes our way. The meaning of those four words is more significant than that, because to do the will of God confirms who we are as the People of God. Let us recall that when Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments the people were told that this law was the will of God and putting that law into practice would constitute them as the people of God. So the people said, “we will do whatever God tells us.” In other words, they would do the will of God, and the law that Moses had just received and in turn had given represented the will of God. To do the will of God is to do what he gives us in his law. The same is true for us as Christians. However, the law given to us Christians is so different from the law written on the stone given to Moses, because the law that Christ gives, and thus makes us his people, is written in our hearts, and it is the law of love. When the lawyer asked Jesus what is the most important of all the commandments, Jesus said, love God and love your neighbor. St Paul too made it very clear that the law that binds Christians is the law of love: “Help to carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Therefore, when we say or pray, “thy will be done”, we are asking God to give us all that is needed to keep his law and for us Christians, it is the law of love. Dear members of the St Vincent de Paul Society, we as the Church under the leadership of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, are living in truly remarkable times, because our Shepherd is awakening within the whole Church the call of Christ, the law of Christ, that we must care for those in need. If there is any message that has remained constant ever since Pope Francis was elected to the Chair of Peter, it has been this one: the Church must have a preferential option for the poor. In other words, the Church cannot sit idly by, in our comfort zone, in our inward security, while so many of our brothers and sisters are knocking at our door asking that we give them something to eat. Pope Francis and special care for the poor Pope Francis reflects at length about this matter in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, “The Joy of the Gospel”. And if we want to know what the Pope thinks about this question this is mandatory reading and should guide all our reflections, but above all, every one of our actions. In the Exhortation, which deals with the missionary activity of the Church, the Holy Father dedicates a substantial portion of it to the relationship between evangelization and the poor. That lengthy part of the Exhortation, entitled, “The inclusion of the poor in society” is found in the second section of Chapter IV, with its own title “The Social Dimension of Evangelization”, and runs from number 186 to 216, a hefty 30 paragraphs. The Holy Father begins this chapter by giving us the basis premise of why the Church is concerned with the poor and those in need. He writes in the opening line: “To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world” (176). The phrase is profoundly biblical, for indeed, let us recall that in the Gospel of Mark, the first words that Jesus speaks are about the coming of the kingdom of God. We see in chapter 1, verse 14: “Jesus went to Galilee and preached the Good News from God. ‘The right time has come and the kingdom of God is near! Turn away from sin and believe in the Good News’.” The kingdom of God was the very center of the message of Jesus. What is this kingdom of God that he preached and brought into the world? We need to recall the world-view that existed in the time of Jesus. It was a rather pessimistic one that defined the world, creation, the human being itself, as being no longer in the hands of God, but in the hands of the evil one, described as Satan. The original purity of creation, the original harmony within creation, the original communion of creation was God were all lost due to that decision of Adam and Eve to turn towards the tree of knowledge in an attempt to become God who was the only all-knowing being. So over time, creation drifted farther and farther from God, and as a result the human person was found to be in a horrible condition of alienation from God and from others, of sickness and the worse condition of all, death itself, finiteness, an end. So, Christ appears, as Mark writes, to bring Good News, the Gospel itself. And the Good News is this: “I am here to establish the kingdom of God”, by destroying the kingdom of sin and death, the kingdom of Satan. Therefore, the entire life of Jesus, his mission, was precisely to conquer the power of Satan and to usher in the power or reign of God. And he accomplished that mission given to him by the Father, primarily through the miracles and the parables. The scope of the miracles was to stamp out the presence of Satan who had inflicted on the human person an array of suffering: illness, hunger, sin, despair and death. Therefore, we see in the Synoptic Gospels that the miracles are totally people-centered. (There is only one fishy miracle!). They all have as their goal to restore the human person to that perfection intended by God at creation. So Jesus heals the lepers, expels demons, he forgives sins, and he even raises the dead. In each case, Satan is being conquered, and the power of God is being manifested. In short, he is rescuing the human person from utter destruction. And of course, the greatest “miracle” was the resurrection, because with that one event the worst curse that man had received, death, was even destroyed. The parables too play an important role in establishing the kingdom of God. The parables are those stories which powerfully attract the listener, and their goal was to have people think in a new, the way of the kingdom of God and not the kingdom of darkness. The parables draw the listener into the story and forces the listener to make a judgment about the situation being described. So for example, the parable of the Good Samaritan was given after someone asked who is my neighbor, and after telling the story, Jesus asks so now who is your neighbor? And the listeners reply more or less in affirming “everyone” without distinction. With the reply the person is forced to change his way of thinking or viewing reality and in a sense become his own judge in living the new way that Jesus is teaching. Consequently, “the kingdom, already present and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our being” (181). Therefore, the message of the Gospel, as Paul VI taught in Populorum Progressio, is directed to “all men and the whole man” (181). Then quoting Evangelii Nuntiandi of Paul VI, the Holy Father affirms: “evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social” (181). This, then, is what the Holy Father intenl8ds when he says that the goal of evangelization is to make the kingdom of God present, in other words, to continue the work of Jesus in transforming and changing the human condition. Consequently, it signifies, as Pope Francis writes, that “at the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with others” … “centered on charity” (177). The reason for this encounter with others is not based on sociological concepts, but rather on the theological implications of the meaning of faith. Faith, the Pope states, in a God of love means that he has conferred on every human being an “infinite dignity” (178). On the Christological level, it means to believe that the Son of God “assumed human flesh” signifying “that each human being has been taken into the very heart of God” (178). The theology of the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Holy Spirit is working in everyone and that implies that “he seeks to penetrate every human situation and all social bonds” (178). The theology of salvation indicates that “God, in Christ, redeems not only the individual person, but also the social relations existing between them” (178). Theologically, the concept of salvation is not just an individual reality, in which we can say, “I am saved”, it is also a universal reality, by which, we can say that humanity is saved. Therefore, writes Pope Francis: “From the heart of the Gospel we see a profound connection between evangelization and human advancement” (178), and to accept the first proclamation which is an encounter of love between God and the believer “brings forth in our lives and actions a primary and fundamental response to desire, seek and protect the good of others” (178). The Holy Father goes on to point out that the Scriptures themselves give examples of the connection between the acceptance of the message of salvation and fraternal love. For example, Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you did it to me”. This line, according to Pope Francis, not only shows the requirement to care for others, but also “our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us” (179). In other words, if we want to meet Christ today, one such place is the very persons of our brothers and sisters. This link transcendental link is also seen in the phrase “”Be merciful, just as your Father has shown mercy” (Matthew 7:2). With these reflections in mind Pope Francis gives two important conclusions: 1) the degree to which we go forth to others becomes a barometer in discerning our spiritual growth and 2) the service of charity is a constituent element of the Church’s mission and the Church “abounds in effective charity and a compassion which understands, assists and promotes” (179). In this context, the Holy Father moves to the center of Chapter IV, “the inclusion of the poor in society”, and he writes: “our faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our concern for the integral development of society’s most neglected members” (186). This concern for the poor belongs to each individual member of the Church and each Christian community. Both at the individual and community level, we are “called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society” (187). The Pope reminds us that “God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself became poor (2 Cor. 8:9). In fact, the entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor” (197). Then taking some beautiful scenes from the Gospel of Luke, the gospel of the poor, he recalls that it was a lowly maiden who uttered the ‘yes’ of obedience, that the savior was born in a manger, that he was presented in the temple with the offerings of the poor and so on. Moreover, when Jesus began his public ministry he anointed himself with the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lk. 14:18). He also taught that to the poor belong the kingdom of God (197). Consequently, our attitude towards the poor must be like the attitude that we find in Sacred Scriptures, an attitude of docility and attentiveness. The Holy Father refers to many Scriptural passages that reveal how “our gracious Father hears the cry of the poor.” It is worth our recalling them even here: The Lord hears the people in need: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them… so I will send you…” (Ex 3:7-8, 10). “When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer” (Jg 3:15). “The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts” (James 5:4). -If we turn our ear to the cry of the poor, the Holy Father writes, “we oppose the Father’s will and plan”. That poor person “might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt” (Dt 15:9). -A lack of solidarity towards his or her needs will directly affect our relationship with God: “For if in bitterness of soul he calls down a curse upon you, his Creator will hear his prayer” (Sir 4:6). -“How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods, and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (1 Jn 3:17) (187). Pope Francis then teaches, if this is the way that God reacts to the cry of the poor, then, we the Church must respond to their needs, because we have been “born of the liberating action of grace” (188). Consequently, our concern for the poor is not a sociological or humanitarian response, it is based on who we are, people freed by God, who in turn must free others, because “we are God’s means of hearing the poor” (187). Moreover, we have been commanded by Christ “to give them something to eat” (Mk. 6:37). The Holy Father interprets this phrase to mean: “working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter” (188). Therefore, giving them something to ear is not just the occasional acts of charity, but also concrete endeavors to find ways to eliminate unjust structures which cause poverty and ways to advance the development of the whole person. Pope Francis injects into his reflection, the word, “solidarity”. He says that it is a word that is used so much and therefore requires an explanation. He begins by saying that it does not refer “to sporadic acts of generosity”, but rather, “it presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few” (188). Concretely speaking, the Pope says, “solidarity is a spontaneous reaction by those who recognize that the social function of property and the universal destination of goods are realities which come before private property. The private ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the decision to restore to the poor what belongs to them. These convictions and habits of solidarity, when they are put into practice, open the way to other structural transformations and make them possible. Changing structures without generating new convictions and attitudes will only ensure that those same structures will become, sooner or later, corrupt, oppressive and ineffectual” (189). It is precisely the idea of the parables whose goal was always to lead the listener to change his/her mind about the view of reality, to embrace a new way of thinking, and therefore, to begin to live in a new manner. In order for us to have this new mindset, we must “hear the cry of the poor” which means first “to be deeply moved by the suffering of others” (191), and then it means secondly “to desire the general temporal welfare and prosperity of others (192). Pope Francis explains what the phrase “to be moved by the suffering of others” means. He does so by referring to the Sacred Scriptures and specifically the concept of mercy, which he wants “to resound in the life of the Church”. The Holy Father points out that mercy brings with it salvation. For those who show mercy salvation is given to them: “Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy, yet mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:12-13). 7 “Break off your sins by practising righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your tranquillity” (Dan 4:27). “Almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin” (Tob 12:9). “Water extinguishes blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin” (Sir 3:30). “Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8) (193). For Pope Francis, these texts from the Bible, which he says are “clear and direct, simple and eloquent”, “summon us so forcefully to brotherly love, to humble and generous service, to justice and mercy towards the poor”. They do not even need any interpretation, which in fact, may “relativize” their meaning, “obscure or weaken their force” and cloud something that is so clear. Simply put, “why complicate something so simple?” (194). In another part of this section of the Exhortation, when the Pope reminds all of us of our duty to care for the poor, he says, “I fear that these words too may give rise to commentary or discussion with no real particle effect” (see 201). In these texts, “Jesus taught us this way of looking at others by his words and his actions. We should not be concerned simply about falling into doctrinal error, but about remaining faithful to this light-filled path of life and wisdom.” Therefore, we should accept them for what they say and follow them with “courage and zeal” (194). It is very clear that following the mandate of Jesus to care for poor is as important as preserving doctrine. In fact, the Pope points out that “when Saint Paul approached the apostles in Jerusalem to discern whether he was ‘running or had run in vain’ (Gal 2:2), the key criterion of authenticity which they presented was that he should not forget the poor (cf. Gal 2:10). This important principle, namely that the Pauline communities should not succumb to the self-centred lifestyle of the pagans, remains timely today, when a new self-centred paganism is growing. We may not always be able to reflect adequately the beauty of the Gospel, but there is one sign which we should never lack: the option for those who are least, those whom society discards” (195). In other words, to live the beauty of the Gospel has as its essential manifestation to express a fundamental option for the poor. Pope Francis then affirms that “for the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category” (198), and this “divine preference for the poor has consequences for the Church” (198). He defines this option for the poor, using the words of St John Paul II from Sollicitudo Rei Socialis: as a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness”. Then turning to Pope Benedict XVI, he says that this option “is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty’” (from Pope Benedict’s talk to the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops in 2007) (198). It is then in this context that Pope Francis articulates the now famous phrase: “This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor”. Not only because we must give to them, but also because they have much to give to us. In fact, Pope Francis affirms: “They have much to teach us” and “we need to let ourselves be evangelized by them”. In our desire for a new evangelization, we should recognize “the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of Church’s pilgrim way”, by listening to them, to find Christ in them and to lend out voice to their causes (198). With these reflections in mind, we are certainly inspired and moved to activism. But is the Holy Father calling us to activism as such? He explains that our commitment to the poor is not exclusively manifested in action, but rather it is “an attentiveness which considers the other in a certain sense as one with ourselves” and “to seek their good”. It means to establish a relationship with the poor, so that “in every Christian community, the poor feels at home”. So important is our option for the poor, as Pope Francis teaches, without it, “the proclamation of the Gospel … risks being understood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communication” (from St John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte) (199). Of utmost urgency is “a privileged and preferential religious care” (200). The Pope makes it very clear that no one is exempted from the call to care for the poor. “It is required of everyone” and the Holy Father asks all of us, as a community, to seek “creative ways of accepting this call” (201). A wide concept of vulnerable people In the final paragraphs of this section, the Pope addresses some concrete problems which call for our attention. After affirming that “inequality is the root of social ills”, the Holy Father states “the dignity of the human person and the pursuit of the common good should shape all economic policies.” Economic activity should “serve the common good by striving to increase the goods of this world and to make them more accessible to all” (203). He prays for politicians who are deeply disturbed about the present state of affairs, and calls upon them to seek ways of solving the problems through sincere and effective dialogue and openness to the transcendent. He notes that politics is “a lofty vocation” and “one of the highest forms of charity inasmuch as it seeks the common good” (205). The Holy Father then carries this idea to the field of economy and affirms that economy is “the art of achieving a fitting management of our common home, which is the world as a whole” and to achieve that “no government can act without regard for shared responsibility” and what is needed “at this juncture of history is a more efficient way of interacting which, with due regard for the sovereignty of each nation, ensures the economic well-being of all countries, not just of a few” (206). The Holy Father then moves to speak about the Church’s concern for the vulnerable, but while affirming, that “it is essential to draw near to new forms of poverty and vulnerability” which he lists as “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned, and migrants (210). He gives a particular reflection to human trafficking (211) and he affirms “doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence” (212). He also states that “among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us” and reminds us, however, that his defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development (213). Here we can see that the Holy Father is placing the Church’s teaching on the protection of the unborn in the context of the entire and total question of caring for those who are vulnerable. Writing on behalf of Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, told the pro-life movement in Ireland and the UK on 25 July 2014 that the Pope was confident that the Day for Life would “inspire young Catholics in particular, not only to help to ensure adequate legal protection of the fundamental human right to life, but also by seeking to bring the merciful love of God as a life-giving balm to those troubling new forms of poverty and vulnerability which are increasingly evident in contemporary society.” It is clear that Pope Francis is widening the definition of the protection of vulnerable life. In his very clear and direct words on what must be the Church’s concern for the poor, Pope Francis states that “If anyone feels offended by my words, I would respond that I speak them with affection and with the best of intentions, quite apart from any personal interest or political ideology. My words are not those of a foe or an opponent. I am interested only in helping those who are in thrall to an individualistic, indifferent and self-centered mentality to be freed from those unworthy chains and to attain a way of living and thinking which is more humane, noble and fruitful, and which will bring dignity to their presence on this earth” (208). Conclusion Indeed and in conclusion, and again these are the words of the Holy Father “any Church community, if it thinks it can comfortably go its own way without creative concern and effective cooperation in helping the poor to live with dignity and reaching out to everyone, will also risk breaking down, however much it may talk about social issues or criticize governments. It will easily drift into a spiritual worldliness camouflaged by religious practices, unproductive meetings and empty talk (207). Yes, we cannot sit idly by, because as Pope Francis stated a few days ago on 19 September 2014 to a conference on Evangelii Gaudium: “So many people today are on the margins of our society, feeling tired and dejected, awaiting an answer from the Church. From us! How do we reach them? How do we share with them the experience of faith, God’s love and the encounter with Jesus? This responsibility lies with our communities and our pastoral work.” And this, dear members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, you have been doing constantly and faithfully for so many years and in so many places and as such you are doing the will of God, by loving and caring for those most in need. May the Good Lord always bless your noble work and ministry.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 14:08:12 +0000