When Pope Francis speaks from the heart

The invitation of Pope Francis to priests and the religious (in Cuba and elsewhere) to give of themselves completely to the poor is actually a call of the Gospel.

News outlets said Pope Francis had “ditched” his prepared speech in Havana’s Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of Immaculate Conception to speak off-the-cuff. The Guardian called it Pope Francis going “unplugged.”

There is no surprise here. In 2013 when he met Jesuit students, teachers and parents from Jesuit schools in Italy and Albania he told them, “I prepared this address for you… but it is five pages long! Somewhat boring... Let’s do something else” and he went on to do just that.  It is now to be expected that when Pope Francis thinks it appropriate, he will put aside his prepared remarks.

Whichever way you look at it, Pope Francis has a liberated way of being himself and speaking from the heart. When he does, he often leaves us with gems that can sometimes go unnoticed. He did precisely this in Havana when he spoke to seminarians, priests, religious men and women.

At the vespers, in Havana, Pope Francis told his congregation about a certain wise old priest who once told him about the dangers of priests and sisters accumulating too much wealth for themselves.

“When the spirit of wealth goes to the heart of a consecrated person, a priest, a Bishop, a Pope, when you begin to accumulate money to secure the future…When, for example, a religious congregation begins to raise (too much) money, God is so kind that he will send a disastrous bursar who will make a mess of the accounts. This blessing of God to his Church, disastrous bursars, help us to become ‘poor’ again and free (from too much wealth).”

No doubt many a Bishop or Mother Superior who have dealt with incompetent accountants or bad financial managers will not be too amused with Pope Francis’ statement. Yet Pope Francis is not encouraging bad financial practices. He is speaking of excessive attachment to money and worldly possessions that can lead any cleric or religious person to lose focus of the Gospel message as contained in the Beatitudes.

So what did Pope Francis mean when he told his Havana audience, “riches impoverish you, riches take away the best of what you have… that richness which is trust in God?”

There are many forms of poverty. In his earthly life, Jesus was no stranger to poverty. He understood the suffering that poor people experienced. It is for this reason that whenever he could, Jesus always tried to lighten the burden of the poor.  To quote Pope Francis again when he spoke to Jesuit students back then, “Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons. Poverty today is a cry. We all have to think if we can become a little poorer, all of us have to do this. How can I become a little poorer in order to be more like Jesus, who was the poor Teacher?” said Pope Francis.

The invitation of Pope Francis to priests and the religious (in Cuba and elsewhere) to give of themselves completely to the poor is actually a call of the Gospel. In fact, it is a call for all who believe and follow Christ. 

(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)