02/18/2019, 14.29
VATICAN
Send to a friend

Pope says God asks each of us: where is your brother, sick, in prison, hungry?

"Is there room for these people in our hearts? Or do we speak of the people, settle our conscience a little by giving alms ". But please do not give too much “because with these social things from the Church", it ends up looking like "a communist party and this hurts us".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Where is your brother?”  This is the question that God asks each one of us in our hearts regarding our brother who is sick, in prison or hungry.   Pope Francis made this the reflection of his homily at Mass, Monday morning, in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.   

Commenting on the episode of Cain and Abel in the first reading from the Book of Genesis, the Pope said explained that mankind, like Cain, often attempts to reply to God’s uncomfortable and embarrassing questions with regard to our neighbours.  “What have I got to do with my brother's life? Am I his keeper? I wash my hands of him….”   The Pope explained that Cain, who killed his brother, tries to escape the gaze of God. He said Jesus also asked such uncomfortable questions.  He asked Peter three times whether he loved Him.  He asked his disciples what people said about Him and what they themselves thought about Him. 

Pope Francis said today the Lord asks each one of us some personal questions such as these:  "Where is your brother who is hungry?" the Lord asks us.  And to save our skin, we answer, “Surely he is at lunch with the parish Caritas group that is feeding him.”    “What about the other, the sick…?"  “Oh well, he is in the hospital!"   "But there's no place in the hospital! And did you give him any medicine? "  "But, that’s his business, I cannot meddle in the life of others ... and besides, he will have relatives who give him medicine ".  And so I wash my hands of him. "Where is your brother, the prisoner?"  "Ah, he deserves and is paying for it.”  We are tired of seeing so many criminals on the street. 

Perhaps, the Pope said, you never hear such answers from the Lord.  “Where is your brother, your exploited brother, the one who works illegally, nine months a year… with no security, no holiday ...?" The Holy Father urged each one to put a name to each one of those that the Lord mentions in Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel -   the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, without clothes, the little one who cannot go to school, the drug addict, the prisoner ... where is he?

The Pope said questions are constantly being asked of us. “Where is your brother in your heart? Is there room for these people in our hearts? Or do we try to calm our conscience by giving some alms?”   "We are accustomed,” he said, “to giving compromising answers in order to escape from the problem, not to see the problem, not to touch the problem".

Pope Francis said that unless we put names to the list in Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 25, we will create  “a dark life” for us with sin crouching at our door, waiting to enter and destroy us. When God asked Adam in the Book of Genesis, “Adam, where are you?" - Adam hid himself out of shame.   Perhaps we don’t notice these things, these sufferings, these pains, the Pope said and urged Christians not to hide from reality but to answer openly, faithfully and joyfully to the questions that the Lord asks us about our brothers.

 

 

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
For Fr Tom, abducted in Yemen, Holy Thursday prayer and adoration for the martyrs
21/03/2016 14:57
"We are optimistic," says Paul Bhatti as Rimsha Masih's bail hearing postponed to Friday
03/09/2012
Synod for the Amazon: Card Stella hails the ‘great beauty’ of celibacy in a priest’s life
24/10/2019 17:56
Catholic music to promote dialogue in Ambon, the city of sectarian violence
17/10/2018 13:29
Church leads the way in helping Vietnam cope with its educational emergency
11/03/2016 17:00


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”