Pope: We cannot separate praying from practicing justice

Roman Mite coin

We cannot separate prayer from practicing justice, Pope Francis said today in his reflection on the day's readings before the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square.

When faced with the needs of our neighbour we are called to deprive ourselves of something which we really need - not something that is left over or surplus, the Pope said. Referring to the day's Gospel, he said, in the first part Jesus criticizes the scribes for their "arrogance, greed and hypocrisy." Jesus, he continued, noted how the scribes liked to be greeted respectfully in the squares, take the front row in the synagogue, the places of honour at banquets and who for show, offer long prayers. But at the same time as the scribes paraded in public, Jesus said, they were devouring the property of widows.

Pope Francis went on to warn that even nowadays there is a risk of Christians behaving in this way. For example, he said, we must not separate praying from practicing justice because we cannot pray to God and cause harm to the poor. Or when people say they love God but instead their own conceit and profit takes precedence over Him.

Turning to the second part of the Gospel reading, the Pope pointed to the poor widow who put into the treasury her two small coins. He recalled that Jesus told his disciples this widow gave more than all the others because the rich people donated money they could spare but she put in all that she had to live on.

Pope Francis said this illustrates that we should judge not the quantity but the fullness of the gift, saying it's not a question of one's wallet but of one's hearts and especially the need to love God with all one's heart and place our trust in Him and His providence. When faced with the needs of our neighbour, he went on, we are called to deprive ourselves of something indispensable, not of something that we can spare or that is left over. We are called to give immediately of our talents without reserves and not after having used them for our personal goals or those of our group.

In the final part of his address, Pope Francis spoke about the Day of Thanksgiving which was being celebrated in Italy on Sunday (8th November) and expressed his closeness to the agricultural sector. I encourage you, he said, to cultivate our earth in such a way as to preserve its fertility so that it can produce food for everybody, nowadays and for future generations. The Pope also reminded his audience that he will be travelling to the Italian cities of Florence and Prato on Tuesday (10th November) during which he will attend the National Ecclesial Congress.

After the Angelus the Pope made a short statement about the recent theft of documents from the Vatican. See also: ICN 8 November 2015 -
Pope: Theft of documents was a crime, but will not slow reforms to Curia www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28755