The mission of evangelization is proper to the Son of God (Cf. Luke 4, 18). In order to continue the mission of Jesus Christ, we need to know Christ well. Knowing him und understanding him remains important because there is a link between the person of Christ and his message. Pope Paul VI writes: “As the kernel and center of His Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this great gift of God, which is liberation from everything that oppresses man, in the joy of knowing God and being known by Him, of seeing Him, and of being given over to Him“ (Evangelii Nuntiandi 9). The Church exists to evangelize (Evangelii Nuntiandi 14).
Continuing the mission of Christ implies working against all things that oppress the human person. The poor, the homeless, and the destitute have one thing in common – they are rejected by the world and are the unloved. They are seen as people of low value and image. Continuing the mission of Christ by means of showing the poor love, renews their trust in humanity.
Writing about the joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis focuses on the need of turning away from our new iPhone and towards our neighbor. This is important if we want to reject what he labels the “throwaway culture” in which not just possessions but people are disposable when a newer, flashier model appears. Thus, instead of rejecting the poor, we are to build a community, where the poor are attended to and become a church on the margins.
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul, whose memorial we commemorate today is a model of a modern man, who cared for the poor. Intelligent and ambitious, he saw the priesthood as the perfect way to advance in 17th-century France. He was on the fast track when experiences with the poor in small French villages sparked a conversion in him. Seeing the face of Christ in the neglected and abandoned, Vincent became a “charity’s saint,” dedicating his life to God and the poor. The question is: what motivated and nourished his actions?
In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis points to the danger of helping others simply because it makes us feel “good” or because it gives us a better image. Thus, he warns against self-righteousness in Christian life. The fact remains that we are also beneficiaries of God‘s benevolence. That is why Jesus asked the disciples to carry nothing with them on their mission, because they are to depend on God‘s providence. Hence, if we can discover the presence of Jesus in the poor, who, though rich, became poor for our sake (cf. 2 Cor 8:9), it becomes easy to care for them.
To love the poor means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material. It implies sharing our bread with them as well as breaking with them the bread of God’s word, which is addressed first to them. Today we might ask ourselves: “What counts for me in life? Where am I making my investments?” In fleeting riches, with which the world is never satisfied, or in the wealth bestowed by God, who gives eternal life? Our vocation to continue the work of Christ challenges us to give away ourselves and some of our possessions.
