Pope Francis has announced that the first World Day of the Poor will be observed this coming winter, on Sunday, 19th November 2017.
The Holy Father published a special message on Tuesday, June 13th, explaining that at the conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy, he wished to launch a World Day of the Poor, “so that throughout the world, Christian communities can become an ever greater sign of Christ’s charity for the least and those most in need”.
The Jubilee of Mercy ended in November 2016, when Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass for the socially marginalised in St Peter’s Basilica. In the days leading up to this Mass, the Pope had heard many stories of people struggling with hardship and daily difficulties, and now he calls on us to “bring forth compassion and works of mercy for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in need”.
“I invite the whole Church,” said Pope Francis, “and men and women of good will everywhere, to turn their gaze on this day to all those who stretch out their hands and plead for our help and solidarity. They are our brothers and sisters, created and loved by the one Heavenly Father”.
“Let us love, not with words but with deeds.”
The message for the first World Day of the Poor is “Let us love, not with words but with deeds”. In this message, Pope Francis invites “the whole Church, and men and women of good will everywhere, to turn their gaze on this day to all those who stretch out their hands and plead for our help and solidarity”.
Pope Francis’ message, which can be read in full on the official Vatican website, draws from the life of St Francis. The Holy Father speaks of St Francis in his message, nothing that “precisely because he kept his gaze fixed on Christ, Francis was able to see and serve him in the poor”.
The Pope went on to say that “if we want to help change history and promote real development, we need to hear the cry of the poor and commit ourselves to ending their marginalization”.
Poverty challenges us daily, writes the Pope, “in faces marked by suffering, marginalisation, oppression, violence, torture and imprisonment, war, deprivation of freedom and dignity, ignorance and illiteracy, medical emergencies and shortage of work, trafficking and slavery, exile, extreme poverty and forced migration.”
“Poverty has the face of women, men and children exploited by base interests, crushed by the machinations of power and money.”
Poverty also faces us in other ways, a poverty that “stifles the spirit of initiative of so many young people by keeping them from finding work”, and one which “dulls the sense of personal responsibility and leaves others to do the work while we go looking for favours”. In today’s world, Pope Francis says, “we cannot remain passive, much less resigned”.
The Holy Father concluded by stating: “The poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practise in our lives the essence of the Gospel”. With this in mind, we must now respond “with a new vision of life and society”.
As the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart work to alleviate the hardship brought about in some of the world’s most impoverished areas, we look with Pope Francis to a brighter future. Working alongside other missionary orders in the Misean Cara and AMRI groups, we’re glad to be part of a bigger picture as we work together for positive change.