Pope Francis, the Church and Those Who StruggleRead Time 10 min

Easter Monday was for us both a time of great joy in the Resurrection of Christ, and a moment of profound sorrow with the news of the death of our beloved pontiff, Pope Francis. He was loved by Catholics and non-Catholics alike as a spiritual leader and a man of compassion and charity. A huge part of the legacy of Pope Francis is the care and concern that he showed for the poor and marginalized of the world.

As a young priest, I was blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in our archdiocesan sister parish in the Dominican Republic. I served four years in Holy Family Parish (La Parroquia Sagrada Familia). My years there were probably the most intense years of my priesthood. There I learned a lot about poverty, service and sacrifice. The bishop of the diocese where the parish is located, San Juan de la Maguana, was Bishop Jose Grullon. He was appointed bishop in 1992, the year I began my four-year assignment in the mission parish, and he is now recently retired. Bishop Grullon made a big impression on me in many ways. I was always inspired by his energy, his commitment and his leadership style.

There were many projects going on in my time in the mission parish designed to help the needs of the poor. Latrine building projects, literacy projects, projects that focused on helping parents register their children, food distribution projects and the like. One of the things I learned from Bishop Grullon concerning works of charity has stuck with me throughout my priesthood.

I remember Bishop Grullon addressing us priests concerning those we were to serve. He told us, “As pastors, you are shepherds of everyone in your parish. You are shepherds of the churchgoers and the nonchurchgoers; you are shepherds of the baptized and the unbaptized; you are shepherds of the Catholics and the Protestants; you are pastors of the atheists, agnostics and those who are simply ignorant of the faith. They all belong to your flock, and when it comes to works of charity, they are all deserving of your love. Where there is need, we make no distinctions.”

That was the first time I had ever heard it put that way. It was a true intersection of Church and community, and the link was charity.

The attitude of Jesus toward the poor can be found in St. Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 6, in which Jesus teaches about the beatitudes. The word beatitude stems from the Latin word beatitudo, a word that means happiness or blessedness. In St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor; the kingdom of God is yours.” (Luke 6:20b) Poverty takes a place of primacy among the beatitudes. Christ came for all people. St. Luke deliberately uses the present tense. He does not say, “the kingdom of God will be yours,” but “the kingdom of God is yours.” Jesus preaches the kingdom of the living God who is capable of entering into our history and acting in it, and he is acting now, in this moment. This is the hour in which he shows himself and reveals himself as Lord.

St. Luke’s version of the beatitudes is very concrete. Here Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” as found in St. Matthew’s version, but rather, “Blessed are the poor.” Among the community for whom St. Luke was writing were the poor, the downtrodden and the lowly. St. Luke keenly recognized a great virtue among the poor. The poor realized that all they had was from God, and so they were generous with the little that they had. If they looked out for the needs of others, they trusted that God would provide for them.

Think of the story of the poor widow that Jesus and his disciples observed in the temple treasury. While others gave from their surplus, she gave a small coin, sacrificing all that she had, and putting her trust in the providence of God. (Luke 21:1-4)

In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, Jesus also says, “Woe to the rich.” He is not concerned about how much money a rich person has. Rather he is concerned with the false sense of security that some people have, putting their trust in their wealth, rather than in God.

Remember the parable of the wealthy farmer who had a great harvest and didn’t have enough space to store his grain? He decided he would tear down his old barns and bins and build new ones to hold the abundant grain. Then he would say to himself, “Rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” Those who put their faith in wealth and possessions have no true joy, and no real future. (Luke 12:16-21)

If we put our trust in material wealth, we leave very little room for God in our lives. We act as if we don’t need him. If we store up only material wealth in this life, we will neglect storing up our treasure in heaven.

The Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes) tells us that in Christ, we know what it means to be fully human. (Gaudium et spes, 22) Each person possesses human dignity, and has the right to have essential needs met.

In his encyclical “Fratelli tutti,” Pope Francis wrote that it is essential that we recognize the dignity of all, and that we do not see ourselves as isolated from those who do not have the same level of resources that we have. Pope Francis referred to solidarity with the poor and marginalized as a moral virtue. He wrote that in a time of uncertainty and a lack of consistency in our culture, we should appeal to the sense of solidarity “born of the consciousness that we are responsible for the fragility of others as we strive to build a common future. Solidarity finds concrete expression in service, which can take a variety of forms in an effort to care for others.” (Fratelli tutti, 115)

We can keep the memory and mission of Pope Francis alive in our striving to recognize the dignity of all people, and in our dedication to serving those who are most in need. May we always seek to be in solidarity with those who struggle in this world.