I hope to have another update after Thanksgiving. For now, some quotes from a recent talk shared by Pope Francis that are reflective of my own call, too.
Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
Jerome
“If in the eyes of the world the poor have little value, they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven; they are our passport to paradise. In the poor, we find the presence of Jesus, who, though rich, became poor for us.”
“In the poor, Jesus knocks on the doors of our heart, thirsting for our love. When we overcome our indifference, and in the name of Jesus we give of ourselves for the least of his brethren, we are his good and faithful friends, with whom he loves to dwell...
We see true goodness and strength: not in closed fists and crossed arms, but in ready hands outstretched to the poor, to the wounded flesh of the Lord. There, in the poor, we find the presence of Jesus. For us it is an evangelical duty to care for them, as our real riches, and to do so not only by giving them bread, but also by breaking with them the bread of God’s word, which is addressed first to them.”
“To love the poor means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material. And it will also do us good. Drawing near to the poor in our midst will touch our lives. It will remind us of what really counts: to love God and our neighbor. Only this lasts forever, everything else passes away.”
“I hope that the poor will always be at the center of our communities, not only on occasions like this, but always, because they are in the heart of the Gospel, and in them we meet Jesus who speaks to us and appeals to us through their sufferings and their needs.”
