“May the Virgin Mary, who in her hymn always reminds us of God’s choices and become a voice for the voiceless, help us to enter into the new logic of the Kingdom, so that God’s love, which accepts, forgives, binds wounds, comforts, and heals, will always be present in our lives as Christians.” This is what His Holiness Pope Leo XIV said in his sermon presiding over the Divine Liturgy on the occasion of the day. The Ninth World Poor World and the Jubilee of the Poor
This Sunday morning, His Holiness Pope Leo The Supreme Pontiff called on believers to look at history with the eyes of the Kingdom, drawing inspiration from the liturgical readings that remind us that the “Day of the Lord” is a new time in which the face of Christ shines like a sun of justice that brings justice to the weak and the suffering.
Pope Leo XIV said: The last Sundays of the liturgical year call us to look at history through its decisive endings. In the first reading, the Prophet Malachi sees the coming of the “Day of the Lord” as an entry into the new time. This time is described as the time of God, in which He makes the sun of justice rise like the dawn, so that the hopes of the poor and humble receive a final and decisive answer from the Lord, and the work and injustice they commit against the defenseless and the poor are uprooted and burned like stubble.
The Holy Father continued to say that this sun of justice that shines, as we know, is Jesus himself. In fact, the Day of the Lord is not only the last day in history, but it is the Kingdom that approaches every human being in the Son of God who is coming. In the Gospel, using the prevailing apocalyptic language of his time, Jesus proclaims and inaugurates this kingdom: he himself is the sovereignty of God who is present, who carves out a place for himself amidst the tragic events of history. Therefore, these events should not frighten the student, but rather make him more steadfast in his testimony, and more aware that Jesus’ promise is alive and faithful forever: “Not a hair on your head will be missing.”
The Supreme Pontiff added, “This is the hope, brothers and sisters, to which we cling even amidst the unpleasant vicissitudes of life.” Today, too, the Church continues her pilgrimage between the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God, declaring the death of the Lord until He comes. Where it seems as if all human hopes are running out, the only certainty is strengthened, stronger than heaven and earth, that the Lord will not allow a hair to be lost from our heads.
The Holy Father continued to say that in the persecutions, pains, fatigue, and hardships of life and society, God does not leave us alone. Rather, he appears to us as someone who takes a stand with us. The entire Holy Book is permeated by this scarlet thread that tells the story of a God who always stands on the side of the youngest, and on the side of the orphan, the stranger, and the widow. And in Jesus, his Son, God’s closeness reaches the pinnacle of love: Therefore, Christ’s presence and his word become a feast and a jubilee for the poor, because he came to give good news to the poor and announce a year of favor with the Lord.
The Supreme Pontiff added, “Today we also participate in a special way in this Year of Grace, as we celebrate on this international day the Jubilee of the Poor.” The entire Church rejoices and rejoices, and I would first like to convey to you, dear brothers and sisters, the immutable and irrevocable words of the Lord Jesus himself.I loved you “I loved you.” Yes, in the face of our weakness and poverty, God looks at us like no one else does, and loves us with eternal love. And His Church, today as well, and perhaps especially in this time that is still wounded by old and new forms of poverty, wants to be “a mother to the poor, a place of hospitality and justice.”
The Holy Father continued to say how many forms of poverty burden our world! There is first and foremost material poverty, but there are also many moral and spiritual conditions, which particularly affect young people. The common tragedy that unites them all is isolation. She challenges us to look at poverty in a holistic manner; Because sometimes we have to meet urgent needs, but in general, we have to develop a culture of caring, in order to break the wall of isolation. Therefore, we want to be attentive to the other, to each person, wherever we are and live, and to transmit this attitude starting with the family, and to live it concretely in the workplace and study, in various communities, in the digital world, and everywhere, especially in the suburbs, to become witnesses of God’s tenderness.
The Supreme Pontiff added, “Today, the scenes of war, which are unfortunately widespread in different regions of the world, seem to prove us in a state of helplessness.” But the globalization of deficits is born from a lie, from the belief that this history has always been this way and will not change. As for the Gospel, it tells us that the Lord comes to save us precisely amid the turmoil of history. We, as a Christian community, must be today, among the poor, a living sign of this salvation.
The Holy Father continued to say that poverty makes Christians accountable, but it also questions all those in society who hold roles of responsibility. Therefore, I urge heads of state and leaders of nations to listen to the cry of the poor. There will be no peace without justice, and the poor remind us of this in multiple ways: with their migration, and with their cry, which is often stifled by the myth of prosperity and progress that does not include everyone, but rather forgets the many and leaves them to their fate.
To those working in the service of charity, to the many volunteers, and to all who seek to alleviate the circumstances of the poorest people, I extend my thanks, as well as my encouragement, to always be a critical conscience in society, the Pope added. You know very well that the issue of the poor brings us back to the essence of our faith, because for us they are the body of Christ himself and not just a social group. Therefore, the Church walks as a mother with those who walk. Where the world sees threats, it sees sons; Where the world builds walls, it builds bridges.
The Holy Father continued, saying, “Let us all commit.” As the Apostle Paul writes to the Christians of Thessalonica, awaiting the Lord’s glorious return, we are not to live a life of self-absorption or religious isolation that translates into a withdrawal from our commitments to others and history. But the search for the Kingdom of God means the desire to transform human coexistence into an area of brotherhood and dignity for all, without exception. But there is always the danger of living as inattentive travelers, unconcerned with the ultimate goal and unconcerned with those who share the journey with us.
Pope Leo In particular, I would like to re-introduce the figure of the saint.”Benedict Joseph Labre“, who, thanks to his life as “God’s homeless”, possesses the characteristics that qualify him to be an intercessor for all the homeless poor. May the Virgin Mary, who in her hymn always reminds us of God’s choices and become a voice for the voiceless, help us to enter into the new logic of the kingdom, so that God’s love that accepts, forgives, binds wounds, consoles, and heals, will always be present. In our lives as Christians.