GENERAL AUDIENCE 3 JUNE 2015
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE
FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
The
family - 17. Family and poverty
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
These Wednesdays we have been
reflecting on the family and we continue forward with this topic, reflecting on
the family. As of today, our catecheses open onto the consideration of the
vulnerability of the family, in the living conditions that put it to the test.
So many problems are testing families.
One of these trials is poverty.
Let us think of the many families that live on the outskirts of major cities,
as well as those in rural areas.... So much misery, so much degradation! And
then, to make the situation worse, in some places there is also war. War is
always a terrible thing. Moreover, it also strikes above all the civil
populations, the families. Truly, war is the “mother of all poverty”, war
impoverishes the family, a great predator of lives, souls and of the most
sacred and beloved bonds.
Despite all this, there are many
poor families who try to live their daily lives with dignity, often openly
entrusting themselves to God’s blessing. This lesson, however, should not
justify our indifference, but rather increase our shame over the fact that
there is so much poverty! It is almost a miracle that, even in poverty, the
family continues to form, and even preserve — as much as it can — the special
humanity of those bonds. This fact irritates those planners of wellbeing who
consider attachments, procreation and familial bonds as secondary variables to
the quality of life. They don’t understand a thing! On the contrary, we should
kneel down before these families, who are a true school of humanity in saving societies
from barbarity.
What do we have left if we yield
to the extortion of Caesar and Mammon, to violence and to money, and renounce
even family ties? A new civil ethic will arrive only when the leaders of public
life reorganize the social bond beginning with the perverse struggle that
spirals between the family and poverty, which leads us into the abyss.
The prevailing economy is often
concentrated on the enjoyment of individual wellbeing, but it largely exploits
family ties. This is a serious contradiction! The boundless work of the family
is not quoted in financial statements, obviously! Indeed economics and politics
are misers in regards to acknowledging this. Yet, the interior formation of the
person and the social flow of affections have their mainstay precisely there.
Should it be removed, everything would fall apart.
It is not merely a question of
bread. We are talking about work, talking about education, talking about
health. It is important that this be clearly understood. We are always quite
moved when we see images of sick and malnourished children that are shown in so
many parts of the world. At the same time, we are also deeply moved by the
twinkle in the eyes of many children, deprived of everything and in schools
built from nothing, who are proud when showing off their pencil and their
notebook. And how lovingly they look at their teacher! Children already know
that man does not live on bread alone! And as for family affection; when there
is destitution children suffer because they want love, family ties.
We Christians have to be ever
closer to the families whom poverty puts to the test. But think, all of you
know someone: a father without work, a mother without work ... and this makes
the family suffer, the bonds are weakened. This is terrible. Indeed, social
destitution strikes the family and sometimes destroys it. The lack, loss or
strong instability of employment weigh heavily upon family life, imposing a
substantial strain on relationships. Living conditions in the poorest
neighbourhoods, with housing and transportation problems, as well as reduced
social, health and educational services, bring about further difficulties.
Adding to these material factors is the damage caused to the family by the
pseudo-models spread by the mass media on the basis of consumerism and the cult
of appearances, which influence the poorest social classes and increase the
breakdown of family ties. Take care of families, attend to the attachment, when
destitution puts the family to the test!
The Church is mother, and must
not forget this drama of her children. She too must be poor, to become fruitful
and respond to so much poverty. A poor Church is a Church that practices
voluntary simplicity in her life — in her very institutions, in the lifestyle
of her members — to break down every dividing wall, especially to the poor.
Prayer and action are needed. Let
us pray earnestly that the Lord stir us, to render our Christian families
leaders of this revolution of familial proximity, that is now so essential for
us! The Church is made of it, of this familial proximity. Let us not forget
that the judgement of the needy, of the small and of the poor prefigures the
judgment of God (Mt 25:31-46). Let’s not forget this and let’s do all we can to
help families to go forward in the trial of poverty and destitution which
strikes attachments and family bonds. I would like to read once again the Bible
test that we heard at the beginning, and each of us think about the families
who are tried by destitution and poverty, the Bible reads like this: “My son,
deprive not the poor of his living, and do not keep needy eyes waiting. Do not
grieve the one who is hungry, nor anger a man in want. Do not add to the
troubles of an angry mind, nor delay your gift to a beggar. Do not reject an
afflicted suppliant, nor turn your face away from the poor. Do not avert your
eye from the needy, nor give a man occasion to curse you” (Sir 4:1-5a). For
this is what the Lord will do — so it says in the Gospel — if we do not do
these things.
Special
greetings:
I greet the English speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from
Ireland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Canada and the
United States. I pray that your visit to Rome may strengthen your faith in the
Lord. In a particular way I wish to express my closeness to the Chinese people
in these difficult moments after the ferry disaster in the Yangtze River. I
pray for the victims, their families and for all involved in the rescue
efforts. Upon all of you and your loved ones, I invoke the Lord Jesus’ abundant
blessings of peace and joy. May God bless you all!
I turn a special thought to the
workers of the Whirlpool factory in Carinaro, and I hope that their serious
employment situation may be rapidly and equitably resolved, with respect for
the rights of all, especially the families. The situation in the entire country
is particularly difficult. It is important that there be an incisive commitment
to opening pathways of hope.
Finally a greeting to young
people, to the sick and to newlyweds. The
month of June is dedicated to devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. May
he teach you, dear young people, the beauty of love and of feeling
loved; may he be your support, dear sick people, in trials and in
suffering; and may he sustain you, dear newlyweds, in your conjugal
journey.
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