I am very grateful for the invitation to pray and speak
with you today. I have heard many good
things about Goshen College and I am especially grateful for the ecumenical
spirit of this community. As you may
know, there has been a fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and
Mennonites, between the Mennonite World Conference and the Vatican. It began in 1998. It seek to promote better understanding of
our respective teachings and also seeks to overcome some long-standing
prejudices. There is also a good
ecumenical relationship between our communities here in this local area through
Bridgeworks. On the international level,
the dialogue report entitled “Called Together to be Peacemakers” has shown that
Catholics and Mennonites hold many convictions in common. We both understand that “reconciliation,
nonviolence, and active peacemaking belong to the heart of the Gospel.” This mutual understanding has led to ever
closer ties of friendship between the Catholic and Mennonite communities.
I reflected prayerfully on what to speak to you about
this morning. I understand that your
Campus Ministries theme for this year is “Sowing Compassion, Side by
Side.” In light of this theme, I’d like
to talk to you today about our shared conviction regarding love and compassion
for the poor. This is a theme that has
been prominent in the teaching and ministry of Pope Francis. Since his election, Pope Francis has set the
love of the poor and the suffering at the heart of the Church’s mission, not
that it was not there before, however the Pope has given this mission renewed
focus. He is teaching us that to be
Christians, to bear witness to the love of Christ who laid down His life for
us, we must show our love for the poor and downtrodden in real, practical, and
evident ways.
You may have read that when he was asked why he chose the
name Francis, the new Pope explained that during the papal election in the
conclave, a Brazilian cardinal who is a friend of his and who was sitting next
to him said to him, after the votes were counted and he had received the
required two thirds majority, “Never forget the poor.” This impacted the newly elected Pope so much
that he thought of Saint Francis of Assisi.
He chose the name Francis whom he called “the man of poverty, the man of
peace, the man who loved.” In the
interview, the Pope then added: “How I wish for a Church that is poor, and for
the poor.”
In his first meeting with the Vatican diplomatic corps
nine days after his election, Pope Francis explained that one of the reasons he
chose the name Francis was because of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for the
poor. He said to the diplomats: “How
many poor people there still are in the world!
And what suffering they have to endure!”
Then he added: “But there is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time,
which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously.” So Pope Francis’ outreach to the poor
includes not only the materially poor, but also the spiritually poor, those who
lack hope, those who are neglected, those who suffer from loneliness, etc. The Pope has spoken often about youth who
cannot find a job, about the elderly who are alone and ignored, about immigrants,
about those who have addictions, etc.
And he has reached out to them in Rome and other places he has visited
these past several months: Brazil, Sardinia, Lampedusa, Assisi. Everywhere he goes, he plans visits to those
who are poor and he extends to them compassion and love. He is setting an example for the Church, to
live its teaching on the preferential option for the poor. His own simple and humble lifestyle is also
an example, especially for bishops and priests, but really for all of us.
On October 4th, the feast of Saint Francis,
the Pope visited Assisi. While there
(one of my favorite places when I was a student in Rome), Pope Francis visited
the room that marks the spot where Saint Francis as a young man stripped naked
before the bishop, renounced his wealthy family and set out to serve the
poor. It is called the “Room of
Renunciation.” There with the Pope was a
group of homeless and unemployed people.
There Pope Francis spoke about children dying of hunger, families
without food, and people forced to flee slavery and hunger. He spoke about Saint Francis’ choice to be
like Jesus, to imitate him, to follow him to the end. He spoke about how Jesus stripped himself and
made himself like us. “Jesus is God, but
he was born naked, he was placed in a manger, and he died naked and
crucified. Francis stripped himself of
everything, of his worldly life, of himself, to follow his Lord, Jesus, to be
like him.” Pope Francis said that “the
renunciation of Saint Francis tells us simply what the Gospel teaches:
following Jesus means putting him in first place, stripping ourselves of the
many things that we possess that suffocate our hearts, renouncing ourselves,
taking up the cross and carrying it with Jesus.
Stripping ourselves of prideful ego and detaching ourselves from the
desire to possess, from money, which is an idol that possesses.” Pope Francis reminds us that the Christian
is not one who just speaks about the poor.
“He is one who encounters them, who looks them in the eye, who touches
them.” The Pope very strongly said that
the Church “must strip away every kind of worldly spirit.” He said that the Church, all of us, “must
strip herself of the worldliness that leads to vanity, to pride, that is
idolatry.” He basically is asking us to
put Christ first, like Saint Francis did.
Putting Christ first leads us to recognize him in the poor and the
suffering.
The Pope is teaching us by word and example to follow the
path of Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve, who bore the suffering
of the cross out of love for us, for our salvation. He is reaffirming with all its force the
Church’s preferential option for the poor.
One of the key principles of Catholic social teaching is the principle of
the universal destination of goods. This
requires that the poor, the marginalized and those whose living conditions
interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of particular
concern. It involves the exercise of
Christian charity. This should affect
the life of every Christian inasmuch as we seek to imitate the life of Christ. It involves our manner of living. It involves rejecting the immoderate love of
riches or their selfish use. We are
called to imitate Christ’s compassion, inspired by Jesus’ own poverty, his
teachings, and his attention to the poor.
Our love for the poor concerns not only material poverty, but also the
numerous forms of cultural and religious poverty. In the Catholic tradition, we speak about the
corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
“The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid
of our neighbor in his/her spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting
are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs
patiently. The corporal works of mercy
consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the
naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead” (CCC 2447).
Human misery “elicited the compassion of Christ the Savior, who willingly
took it upon himself and identified himself with the least of his
brethren. Hence, those who are oppressed
by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church…”
(CCC 2448). I wish to encourage you to
this imitation of the compassion of Christ.
The theme for your campus ministries this year here at Goshen College is
a great challenge: “Sowing Compassion.”
This is the Gospel. Think of the
meaning of that word “compassion” – from the Latin “cum-passio”: to suffer
with. This is what Jesus did. This is what Saint Francis did. This is what Pope Francis is calling
Christians to live today. True
compassion! Not just externally helping
our neighbor in need, but truly helping “from our hearts.” Truly being in solidarity with the suffering,
with those in need. In a speech this
summer, Pope Francis posed two questions:
“Tell me, when you give alms do you look into the eyes of the man or
woman to whom you give alms? … And when you give alms, do you touch the hand of
the one to whom you give alms, or do you toss the coin?” Great questions! We are to bring Christ’ love to those whom we
seek to serve and help. I remember Pope
Benedict also stressing that there is something of which every suffering person
has even greater need, namely, “loving personal concern.” (e.g. soup kitchen at St. Francis in
Harrisburg). This is compassion.
May the Lord help all of us to grow in true Christian charity and
compassion! May God bless this community
of Goshen College as you to sow compassion!
Thank you for this opportunity to be with you today as my brothers and
sisters in Christ.