This Tuesday, June 13, the Vatican published the message of Pope Francis for the VII World Day of the Poor to be celebrated on November 19, 2023.
Below is the full message of Pope Francis, entitled “Do not turn your face away from the poor” (Tb 4,7):
1. The World Day of the Poor, a fruitful sign of the Father’s mercy, comes for the seventh time to support the journey of our communities. It is an appointment that the Church is taking root little by little in her pastoral care, to discover more and more the central content of the Gospel. Every day we commit ourselves to welcome the poor, but this is not enough. A river of poverty runs through our cities and gets bigger and bigger until it overflows; that river seems to overflow us, so much so that the cry of our brothers and sisters who ask for help, support and solidarity grows stronger and stronger. For this reason, on the Sunday before the feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we gather around his Table to receive from Him, once again, the gift and commitment to live in poverty and serve the poor.
“ Do not turn your face away from the poor ” (Tb 4,7). This Word helps us to capture the essence of our testimony. Stopping at the Book of Tobias, a little-known Old Testament text, convincing and rich in wisdom, will allow us to better delve into the content that the sacred author wishes to convey.
A scene from family life unfolds before us: a father, Tobit, greets his son Tobias, who is about to embark on a long journey. The old man fears that he will never see his son again and that is why he leaves him his “spiritual testament” from him. He was deported in Nineveh and now he is blind, therefore doubly poor, but he has always had a certainty, expressed by the name he bears: “the Lord has been my good”. This man, who has always trusted in the Lord, like a good father, wishes to leave his son not so much material goods, but the testimony of the path to follow in life, for this reason he tells him: “Every day, son “Remember the Mister; do not sin or break his commandments. Do good deeds all the days of your life and do not get into the path of injustice” (4,5).
2. As can be seen immediately, the memory that the old man Tobit asks of his son is not limited to a simple act of memory or a prayer directed to God. It refers to concrete facts that consist of doing good works and living righteously. The exhortation becomes even more specific: “To all who practice justice, give souls with your goods, and when giving souls, let your eye have no regrets” (4,7).
The words of this wise old man do not cease to amaze. Because let’s not forget that Tobit lost his sight of him precisely after performing an act of mercy. As he himself recounts, his life from a young age was dedicated to works of charity: “I used to give a lot of alms to my brothers and my compatriots, who had been taken with me into captivity in Nineveh, in the land of the Assyrians. (…) I gave bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and if I saw any of my compatriots dead and thrown behind the walls of Nineveh, I buried them” (1,3.17).
Because of his testimony of charity, the king had stripped him of all his property, making him completely poor. However, the Lord continued to need him; Having assumed his position as butler, he was not afraid to continue his way of life. Let us listen to his story about him, which also speaks to us today: “For our Pentecost feast, that is, the Feast of Weeks, I had a good meal prepared and I sat down at the table: the table was laid with much food. I said to my son Tobias: ‘My son, go and, if you find among our brothers deported to Nineveh someone poor, but with a faithful heart, take him to dine with us. I will stay to wait for your return, my son’” (2,1-2).
How significant it would be if, on the Day of the Poor, this concern of Tobit was also ours! Invite us to share Sunday lunch, after sharing the Eucharistic Table. The Eucharist celebrated would really become a criterion of communion. On the other hand, if around the altar of the Lord we are aware that we are all brothers, how much more visible would this fraternity become by sharing the festive meal with those who lack what is necessary!
Tobias did as his father had told him, but he returned with the news that a poor man had been killed and left in the middle of the square. Without hesitation, old Tobit got up from the table and went to bury the man. Returning home, tired, he fell asleep in the patio; he fell bird dung into his eyes and he went blind (cf. 2,1-10). Irony of fate: you do an act of charity and misfortune befalls you! We can think about it; but faith teaches us to go further. Tobit’s blindness will become his strength to better recognize the multiple forms of poverty that surrounded him.
And the Lord, in due time, will restore sight to the old father and the joy of seeing his son Tobias again. When he arrived that day, “Tobit fell on his neck and wept, saying: ‘I see you, son, light of my eyes! And he exclaimed: Blessed be God! Blessed be his great name of him! Blessed are all his holy angels of him! Blessed be his holy name of him upon us, and blessed be his angels of him forever and ever. Because he has hurt me, but now I look at my son Tobias’” (11,13-14).
3. We can ask ourselves: where does Tobias get the courage and inner strength that allow him to serve God in the midst of a pagan people and to love his neighbor so much that he risks his own life? We are before an extraordinary example: Tobit is a faithful husband and a caring father; he has been deported far from his homeland and suffers unjustly; he is persecuted by the king and his neighbors… Despite being so kind, he is put to the test. As Holy Scripture often teaches us, God does not free those who do good works from trials. Because? He does not do it to humiliate us, but so that our faith in Him is firm.
Tobit, in his time of trial, discovers his own poverty, which makes him capable of recognizing the poor. He is faithful to the Law of God and fulfills the commandments, but this is not enough for him. Active concern for the poor is possible for him because he has experienced poverty in his own skin. For this reason, the words that he addresses to his son de él Tobias are his authentic legacy de él: “Do not take your eyes off all the poor” (4,7).
In short, when we are in front of a poor person we cannot look away, because it would prevent us from meeting the face of the Lord Jesus. And let us pay close attention to that expression “of all the poor”. Everyone is our neighbor. It does not matter the color of the skin, the social condition, the origin… If I am poor, I can recognize who really is the brother who needs me. We are called to meet all the poor and all types of poverty, shaking off the indifference and obviousness with which we offer illusory well-being.
4. We live in a historical moment that does not favor attention to the poorest. The volume of the call to opulence is getting louder, while the voices of those living in poverty are silenced. Everything that does not fit into the expected life models tends to be overlooked, especially for the younger generations, who are the most fragile in the face of the cultural change that is taking place. What is unpleasant and causes suffering is placed in parentheses, while physical qualities are exalted as if they were the main objective to be achieved.
Virtual reality takes over from real life and it is increasingly easy for both worlds to get confused. The poor become images that can move us for a few moments, but when they find themselves in the flesh on the street, annoyance and marginalization take over. The rush, daily companion of life, prevents stopping, helping and worrying about the other. The parable of the good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10, 25-37) is not a story of the past, but questions the present of each one of us. Delegating to others is easy; Offering money for others to do charity is a generous gesture; Getting personally involved is the vocation of every Christian.
5. Let us thank the Lord that there are so many men and women who live their dedication to the poor and excluded and share with them; people of all ages and social conditions who practice reception and commit themselves alongside those who find themselves in situations of marginalization and suffering.
They are not supermen, but “neighbors” that we meet every day and who in silence become poor with the poor. They are not limited to giving something: they listen, discuss, try to understand the situation and its causes, give appropriate advice and correct references. They are attentive to the material need and also to the spiritual, to the integral promotion of the person. The Kingdom of God becomes present and visible in this generous and free service; it is truly like the seed that falls on the good soil of the lives of these people and bears its fruit (cf. Lk 8,4-15). The gratitude to so many volunteers calls for prayer so that their witness is fruitful.
6. On the 60th anniversary of the Encyclical Pace in Terris , it is urgent to return to the words of Saint Pope John XXIII when he wrote: “Every human being has the right to existence, to bodily integrity, to the indispensable and sufficient means for a level a dignified life, especially with regard to food, clothing, housing, rest, medical assistance and the necessary social services; and, therefore, he has the right to security in case of illness, disability, widowhood, old age, unemployment and in any other case of loss of livelihood due to circumstances beyond his control” (n. 6).
How much work remains for us to make these words come true, including through serious and effective political and legislative commitment! That, despite the limitations and sometimes failures of politics to see and serve the common good, the solidarity and subsidiarity of so many citizens who believe in the value of voluntary dedication to the poor develop. It is, without a doubt, about stimulating and putting pressure on public institutions so that they do their duty well; but it makes no sense to remain passive waiting to receive everything “from above”: those who live in poverty must also get involved and be accompanied on a path of change and responsibility.
7. Once again, unfortunately, we must point out new forms of poverty that are added to those already described above. I am thinking in particular of people living in war zones, especially children deprived of a serene present and a dignified future. No one can ever get used to this situation; let us keep alive every attempt so that peace is affirmed as a gift of the risen Lord and the fruit of the commitment to justice and dialogue.
I cannot forget the speculation that, in various sectors, causes a dramatic increase in costs that makes many families even more destitute. Wages are quickly depleted, forcing people into deprivations that violate the dignity of every person. If a family must choose between food to feed itself and medicine to cure itself, the voice of those who claim the right to both goods must be heard, in the name of the dignity of the human person.
How can we not also see the ethical disorder that marks the world of work? The inhumane treatment given to so many workers; the lack of a remuneration proportional to the work performed; the plague of precariousness; the too many victims of accidents, often due to a mentality that prefers immediate benefits to the detriment of safety… The words of Saint John Paul II come to mind: “The first foundation of the value of work is man himself . ( . ..) Man is destined and called to work, but above all work is ‘for man’, and not man ‘for work’” (Enc. Laborem exercens, 6 ).
8. This list, already dramatic in itself, only partially accounts for the situations of poverty that are part of our daily lives. I cannot fail to mention, in particular, a form of malaise that appears more evident every day and that affects the world of youth. How many frustrated lives and even suicides of young people, deceived by a culture that leads them to feel “unfinished” and “failed”. Let us help them to react to these disastrous incitements, so that each one finds the path to follow in order to acquire a strong and generous identity.
It is easy, when talking about the poor, to fall into rhetoric. It is also an insidious temptation to dwell on statistics and numbers. The poor are people, they have faces, stories, hearts and souls. They are brothers and sisters with their merits and flaws, just like everyone else, and it is important to enter into a personal relationship with each of them.
The Book of Tobias teaches us the concreteness of our action with and for the poor. It is a question of justice that commits us all to seek and find each other, to foster the harmony necessary for a community to identify itself as such.
Taking an interest in the poor, therefore, does not end in hasty almsgiving, but requires the reestablishment of correct interpersonal relationships, eroded by poverty. In this way, “not taking our eyes off the poor” leads to obtaining the benefits of mercy, of charity that gives meaning and value to the entire Christian life.
9. Our attention to the poor must always be marked by evangelical realism. Sharing must correspond to the specific needs of the other, not to get rid of what is left over. Here too we need discernment, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to recognize the true needs of our brothers and not our own aspirations. What they urgently need is our humanity, our hearts open to love. Let us not forget: “We are called to discover Christ in them, to give 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” ( Evangelii Gaudium , 198).Faith teaches us that every poor person is a child of God and that Christ is present in him: “Whatever you did to one of my least brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25, 40).
10. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. On a page of his “Story of a Soul”, he writes: “Now I understand that perfect charity consists in enduring the faults of others, not being absolutely astonished by their weaknesses, building oneself up in the smallest acts of virtue that we see practice them, but above all I understand that charity should not remain closed in the bottom of the heart: “No one, Jesus said, lights a torch to put it under a bushel basket, but puts it on the candlestick, so that it enlightens everyone in the house’. It seems to me that this torch represents charity, which should illuminate, bring joy not only to those who are dearest to me, but to all those who are in the house, without excluding anyone” (Ms C, 12th: CompleteWorks , Burgos 2006, 287-288).
In this house that is the world, everyone has the right to be illuminated by charity, no one can be deprived of it. May the tenacity of Saint Teresa’s love inspire our hearts on this World Day, and help us “not to turn away from the poor” and to keep our gaze always fixed on the human and divine face of our Lord Jesus Christ.