I think it's fair to say that today's off-script remarks in Cagliari, Sardinia, represents one of the most "Franciscan" actions of his pontificate so far. Reuters reports:
Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.
"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said. "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."
He discarded his prepared speech after listening to Francesco Mattana, a 45-year-old married father of three who lost his job with an alternative energy company four years ago.
What makes this so Franciscan? Well, it has to do with the overlap of Pope Francis's understanding about the Gospel notion of the dignity and value of the human person, his critique of current systems of economic degradation, and the Gospel readings for this Sunday.
Saint Francis's preaching and way of life (i.e., his "deeds") centered on a response to the emerging money economy of his medieval time. Already in the 13th Century Francis saw what has become so extreme today: the valuation of human persons -- their time, their talents, their lives -- in terms of wealth and money. He knew that this was not God's intention, but something insidious that was capturing the imaginations and speaking to the greedy hearts of his contemporaries. If only he knew how bad things would get eight-hundred-years later!
Later in the day, Pope Francis spoke during Mass, echoing the prescient words of the medieval saint after whom the modern pontiff took his name:
"We don't want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money."
"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said.
How timely this critique and call to action really is today! In all three of our readings for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary time we hear proclaimed the Wisdom of God in indicting and challenging ways.
The first reading, from the Book of the Prophet Amos -- one of the twelve minor prophets in Hebrew Scriptures best known for scathing critique of social injustice -- decries those in authority who exercise their power in such a way as the benefit at the expense of the least among the community.
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
"When will the new moon be over," you ask,
"that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?
We will diminish the ephah,
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the lowly for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;
even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"
The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget a thing they have done!
(Amos 8: 4-7)
The ancient prophet's words really speak for themselves. They traverse the divide of time, space, and culture to strike at the ears and hearts of women and men in our day -- but do we listen? Do we take this seriously?
The Second Reading from the First Letter to Timothy is significant for at least two reasons. First, prayers are requested for the conversion of the "kings and all in authority" so that they might prioritize prayer, tranquility, peace, and justice over their other preoccupations -- presumably with power. Second, there is the affirmation that God desires "everyone be saved" and that Christ Jesus "gave himself as a ransom for all." This is striking especially for those who want to form an "elite" church and vision of salvation. That is not God's plan, that is a human misrepresentation and distortion that reflects selfishness and exclusivity unknown in the Gospel.
Finally, today's Gospel summarizes the major theme of the Christian life this weekend with the line: "You cannot serve both God and mammon." Or, for those who aren't familiar with that term, put more simply: You cannot serve both God and money!
How do we orient our lives? Do we prioritize our own wealth and live according to the norms of a capitalistic culture that values human beings according to dollar signs and the accumulation of material goods? Or do we, hearing the cry of the poor (Psalm 34) through the proclamation of the Gospel in the exhortation of Pope Francis and in the example of Saint Francis, live following in the footprints of Christ Jesus in working for a just world?
This was simultaneously published on DatingGod.org