As Pope Francis continues his focus on the poor in Section IV of the Apostolic Exhortation, he asks us to broaden our concept of poverty to include many different people who are often under the radar screen. All of us would identify those who go without as materially poor. We might even be able to identify those who would be considered spiritually poor. However, as I read this section of...
Paragraphs 186 through 216 of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium comes under the heading "The Inclusion of the Poor in Society." These thirty-one paragraphs look at the Scriptural basis for the Pope's concern for the poor and vulnerable members of our world. They also call us to restore what is rightfully theirs to those who have been shut out of our economic systems. (I suspect...
As I noted in my last blog entry, chapter four of the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium focuses our attention on the social dimension of the Gospel. Before he takes on two particular social issues, the Pope lays the groundwork for the discussion by recalling that the central message of Jesus' preaching was the fact that God's reign is among us. Because the Gospel is concerned about...
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors . . . but I say to you . . ."
This little formula is used by St. Matthew to continue to develop his portrayal of Jesus as the new Moses. Remember that it was Moses who acted as intermediary between God and the children of Israel in teaching the commandments from Mt. Sinai. In his Gospel, St. Matthew portrays Jesus on a mount, seated...
Paragraphs 180 and 181 of the Pope's exhortation take up the theme of God's kingdom or God's reign, another example of how Jesus did not come to preach a Gospel devoid of social implications. After all, a kingdom of one wouldn't be much of a kingdom. Various men and women throughout human history have tried in vain to create empires that encompassed the entire world. In the late 19th...