This Sunday St. Peter's Basilica was filled with hundreds of poor people who were there to attend the Mass the Pope has been organizing for them annually on the penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year.
Every year on the World Day of the Poor, the Pope tries to sensitize the whole Church on the importance of helping others. This year, Pope Francis invited us to experience a more open spirituality.
POPE FRANCIS
Let us ask ourselves: do I look away when I see the poverty, the needs, the pain of others?
The Pope said every Christian must become what he called an “instrument of hope,” someone who helps relieve others of the pain of poverty, abandonment, humiliation and pain.
POPE FRANCIS
Brothers and sisters: let us not forget: Christian hope, which was fulfilled in Jesus and is realized in his Kingdom, needs us and our commitment, needs a faith that is operative in charity, needs Christians who do not look elsewhere.
Traditionally, the World Day of the Poor is celebrated in the Vatican with a lunch in the Paul VI Hall especially for poor people.
JRB
TR: SPL
