Pope at Mass: World leaders must heed cry of the poor—no peace without justice

In his homily, the Pope recalled that the liturgical year is nearing its conclusion, noting that the readings increasingly point toward the ultimate end of history.

The prophet Malachi, he said, describes the end time as “God’s time, when, like a dawn that brings forth the sun of righteousness, the hopes of the poor and the humble will receive a final and definitive answer from the Lord, and the work of the wicked and their injustice, especially against the defenseless and the poor, will be eradicated and burned like straw.”

Jesus, added the Pope, is this “sun of righteousness,” who is the power of God, active and present in all the dramatic events of history.

Rather than giving in to fear, Christians should remain anchored in hope, since the Lord will never let “even a hair of our head perish,” said the Pope.

“In the midst of persecution, suffering, struggles, and oppression in our personal lives and in society, God does not abandon us,” he said. “And in Jesus, His Son, God’s closeness reaches the summit of love. For this reason, the presence and word of Christ become gladness and jubilee for the poorest”.

As the Church celebrates the World Day of the Poor, Pope Leo recalled the opening words of his first Apostolic Exhortation: “Dilexi te, I have loved you.”

In fulfilling those words, the Church seeks to be a mother of the poor and to offer a place of justice and welcome to everyone, especially those burdened by poverty.

“So many forms of poverty oppress our world!” lamented the Pope. He pointed to material poverty, as well as moral and spiritual poverty, which he said especially afflicts young people.

“The tragedy that cuts across them all is loneliness,” he said. “It challenges us to look at poverty in an integral way, because while it is certainly necessary at times to respond to urgent needs, we also must develop a culture of attention, precisely in order to break down the walls of loneliness.”

The Pope invited Christians to pay attention to others, whether we find ourselves online, in our workplace, or in our families, saying we have many opportunities to bear witness to God’s tenderness.

Turning to the global situation, Pope Leo XIV lamented scenarios of war in many parts of the world, saying they seem to confirm that humanity is in a state of helplessness.

“Yet the globalization of helplessness arises from a lie, from believing that history has always been this way and cannot change,” he said. “The Gospel, on the other hand, reminds us that it is precisely in the upheavals of history that the Lord comes to save us.”

Pope Leo urged world leaders to listen to the cry of the poorest, which challenges those who bear political responsibility.

“There can be no peace without justice,” he said, “and the poor remind us of this in many ways, through migration as well as through their cries, which are often stifled by the myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, and indeed forgets many individuals, leaving them to their fate.”

The Pope also encouraged the efforts of charity workers and volunteers, who seek to alleviate the situations of the poor, thanking them for expressing the essence of faith and the Church’s solidarity.

In conclusion, Pope Leo invited all Christians to seek the Kingdom of God by working to transform human coexistence into a “space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception.”

“May Mary help us embrace the Kingdom’s new way of thinking,” he said, “so that in our Christian life the love of God, which welcomes, binds up wounds, forgives, consoles, and heals, may always be present.”

Source: Vatican News