Pope Francis’ Lenten Message 2014 : an invitation to self- denial and solidarity
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican on Tuesday released Pope Francis’ Message for the Lenten
season 2014. The message, on the theme of poverty and sacrifice, bears the feast
date of the Church’s first martyr, Saint Stephen on December 26, 2013. Drawing on
St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis asks us in the Message to reflect
on what it means to be like Christ who “became poor, so that by his poverty you might
become rich” (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). Listen to Tracey McClure's report:
This invitation
to poverty, Pope Francis says, is one the Lord directs to all of us – to be like God
who did not “reveal himself cloaked in worldly power and wealth but rather in weakness
and poverty.”
This, the Pope says, “sums up God’s logic, the logic of love…the
incarnation and the cross.” God’s love “does not hesitate to offer itself in sacrifice.”
The
Pope reflects on various forms of poverty, and notes “there is only one real kind
of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.”
And
like Christ, we Christians, he says, “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.”
But, Pope Francis observes, “destitution” comes with “poverty without
faith…support (and) hope.” Enumerating the three kinds of destitution, Pope Francis
notes that “material destitution” affects those living in undignified conditions:
those who lack basic rights and needs” like food, water, hygiene, and work. The Church
here “offers her help” and strives to end “violations of human dignity, discrimination
and abuse.”
Moral destitution, he continues, “consists in slavery to vice and
sin” such as alcohol and drug addiction, gambling and pornography. The Pope notes
the profound despair afflicting those who “no longer see meaning in life” and “have
lost hope” and says “unjust social conditions,” “unemployment” and “lack of equal
access to education and health care” “plunge” people into moral destitution. “In
such cases,” he writes, “moral destitution can be considered impending suicide” and
“also causes financial ruin.” It is also “invariably linked” to the spiritual destitution
we experience when we reject God’s love, believing “we can make do on our own.”
In
concluding, Pope Francis calls us “to bear witness to all those who live in material,
moral and spiritual destitution.” Lent, he says, “is a fitting time for self-denial”
and he challenges us to give up something “in order to help and enrich others by our
own poverty.” But, he warns, do not forget that “real poverty hurts (and) no self-denial
is real without this dimension of penance.”
Below please find the full
text of Pope Francis' Lenten Message:
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. 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, 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 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