Challenge of the poor

Addressing poor people and refugees in the church of St Elizabeth of Hungary, in Budapest, on April 29, Pope Francis said:

“Those in need – let us never forget – are at the heart of the Gospel. The poor, then, present us with a great challenge: we must refuse to let the faith we profess be imprisoned by a piety removed from life, one that results in a kind of ‘spiritual egotism’, a spirituality of my own creation that serves to preserve my own inner tranquillity and complacency.

“Genuine faith is challenging, it takes risks, it leads us to encounter the poor and, by the witness of our lives, to speak the language of charity. If we lack charity, we have nothing and we are nothing.”

Don’t be couch potatoes

At a meeting with young people at the Papp László Budapest Sportarena on April 29, the pope said:

“God does not want to condemn, but to forgive. God always forgives. Don’t forget it! God always forgives. He is always there to lift us up whenever we fall. With Him at our side, we should never be afraid to move ahead with our lives.

“We do not achieve greatness at the expense of others, but rather by serving them. Jesus wants us to accomplish great things. He doesn’t want us to be lazy ‘couch potatoes’; He doesn’t want us to be quiet and timid; instead, He wants us to be alive, active, ready to take charge and make history.”

Jesus is the way

While celebrating mass at Kossuth Lajos Square on April 30, the pope said:

“Jesus is the way that leads us back into the world. He urges us to go forth to encounter our brothers and sisters. How sad and painful it is to see closed doors… the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation”, as well as those “of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer”.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)