Pope Francis continues to call for a faith that is truly felt, lived, incarnated, and, therefore, life-giving. Moreover, his actions have mirrored such a faith. Surprised, fascinated or ‘infected’ by this joy of a faith that is lived in concrete options, attitudes and deeds of love, many have come to realize that faith, indeed, can and must shape the way we live and relate to others and to the world.
From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministerial journey, He openly spoke to His hometown neighbors using the writings of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Is 61:1-2). No wonder that, as we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see Him fully committed to fulfill this mission: He feeds the hungry, defends the oppressed, stands up for women, loves the outcast and the marginalized, particularly sinners, and calls the rich to share with the poor. All of these were nurtured and inspired by His intimate relationship with the Father. Fixing the world, helping the poor, and defending the oppressed was His job, and we are heirs of such a mission. Fixing what is wrong with the world means looking not just at people’s spiritual needs, but also at their mental, emotional, psychological, and physical needs as well.
In the likeness of Jesus, the Church today cannot fail to attend to the plight of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the neglected. To fail to recognize, serve and love God in them would be to deny one’s own faith in God – ‘Whatever you do or fail to do to one of these…you do it or fail to do it to Me’ (cf. Matthew 25:45ss). Our efforts for evangelization would be meaningless unless we address the real needs of the poor. We often hear people say: “We don’t care what you know, until we know that you care.” But, do we really care?
Last March 23, as part of a social experiment for television, two little girls, Uma, 7, and Maya, 5, took turns pretending to be lost in a busy shopping center in London. One girl was clutching her favorite toy while her younger sister was sucking her thumb; both looked utterly lost. Hundreds of busy people simply walked on by. The girls stood there for one hour. How many people stopped to help? One. How many ignored their plight? More than six hundred! (www.dailymail.co.uk)
True concern which leads to action comes from attentiveness to the needs of others which leads to compassion, to truly care and love. Unfortunately, our busy schedules, our gadgets and distorted priorities often render us insensitive to the plight of the needy. The illusion of a faith lived only inside the church; a charity that is satisfied with simply disbursing some money; a righteousness that is contented in not doing wrong; an indifference justified by good excuses – all these separate us from the poor and, therefore, from God.
As followers of Jesus, our commitment to social justice – inspired and nurtured by faith – is a privileged way to give witness to the faith we profess. And, in a society where growing indifference of many continues to kill, we have the duty to be people of compassion who truly care. But, do we really care?
