By pretending to be unaware of the excluded and rejected, we "turn
our face away from God" who never, "stops at our outward appearance,
but turns His gaze" on the humble and those who have a contrite spirit
"on the many poor Lazarus of today". A call not to exclude God and others from our lives, "the most valuable assets," which remain, while the rest passes, was the warning that Pope Francis addressed during Mass for the Jubilee of the Socially Excluded.
The last celebration before the close, next Sunday, of the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy gathered the "discarded" to St. Peter's Basilica: the homeless, the poor, people in some way central to the teaching of Pope Francis.
In the Angelus reflection following the Mass the Pope noted that, "human constructions, even the most sacred, are transient and we should not place all of our trust in them. How many alleged certainties in our lives that we thought were definitive, proved ephemeral!
On the other hand, how many problems seemed without solution and then were overcome!
Jesus knows that there is always those who speculate on the human need for security.
Therefore he says, "Take heed that you not be deceived," and warns of the many false messiahs who will present themselves. He adds not to be terrorized and disorient by wars, revolutions and disasters, because they too are part of the reality of this world. "
Those who follow Jesus - he said during the Mass – do not listen to the prophets of doom, the vanities of horoscopes, to sermons and predictions that engender fears, distracting from what matters. Among the many things we hear, the Lord invites us to distinguish what comes from Him and what comes from the false spirit. It is important to distinguish the wise call that God addresses to us every day from the clamor of those who use God's name to scare, feed divisions and fears. Jesus urges them not to fear in the face of disasters of all times, even in the face of the severe and unjust trials that overtake his disciples. He asks you to persevere in the good and to put full confidence in God, who never disappoints, "Not a hair of your head will be forgotten". God does not forget his faithful, his precious property, which is us. But He challenges us today about the meaning of our existence. "
"What remains, what is of value in life, what is the wealth that does not disappear? Definitely two: God and neighbor. These are the greatest assets, of love. Everything else - the sky, the earth, the most beautiful things, this Basilica - passes; but we must not exclude God and others from our life. Yet today, when we talk of exclusion, concrete persons immediately come to mind; not unnecessary things, but precious people. The human person, placed by God at the height of creation, is often discarded because they prefer things that pass. And this is unacceptable, because man is the most precious thing in God's eyes. And it is serious that we become used to this waste; it should worry us, when our consciousness is anesthetized and the suffering of our brothers and sisters alongside us or to the serious problems of the world are no longer concerns, but already heard refrains on the news".
Turning, then, to the "socially excluded", "Today - he said - when we speak of exclusion, we immediately think of concrete people, not useless objects but precious persons. The human person, set by God at the pinnacle of creation, is often discarded, set aside in favour of ephemeral things. This is unacceptable, because in God’s eyes man is the most precious good. It is ominous that we are growing used to this rejection. We should be worried when our consciences are anaesthetized and we no longer see the brother or sister suffering at our side, or notice the grave problems in our world, which become a mere refrain familiar from the headlines on the evening news. Your presence here helps us to be attuned to God’s wavelength, to see what he sees. He sees not only appearances (cf. 1 Sam 16:7), but turns his gaze to the “humble and contrite in spirit” (Is 66:2), to the many poor Lazaruses of our day. What harm we do to ourselves when we fail to notice Lazarus, excluded and cast out (cf. Lk 16:19-21)! It is turning away from God himself. It is the symptom of a spiritual sclerosis when we are only interested in objects to be produced rather than on persons to be loved.
This is the origin of the tragic contradiction of our age: as progress and new possibilities increase, which is a good thing, less and less people are able to benefit from them. This is a great injustice that should concern us much more than knowing when or how the world will end. Because we cannot go about our business quietly at home while Lazarus lies at the door. There is no peace in the homes of the prosperous as long as justice is lacking in the home of everyone.
Today, in the cathedrals and sanctuaries throughout the world, the Doors of Mercy are being closed. Let us ask for the grace not to close our eyes to God who sees us and to our neighbour who asks something of us. Let us open our eyes to God, purifying the eye of our hearts of deceitful and fearful images, from the god of power and retribution, the projection of human pride and fear. Let us look with trust to the God of mercy, with the certainty that “love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8). Let us renew our hope in the true life to which we are called, the life that will not pass away and that awaits us in communion with the Lord and with others, in a joy that will last forever, without end".
The Pope also spoke of the closing of the Holy Door to the 60 thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus.
"Standing firm in the Lord, walking in hope, working to build a better world is what really matters, despite the difficulties and the sad events that mark us in a personal and collective way. It is how the Christian community is called to mark the 'Lord's Day'. Precisely in this perspective we want to place the commitment resulting from these months in which we have lived with faith the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which concludes today in the dioceses of the whole world with the closing of the Holy Door in the cathedral churches. The Holy Year has urged us, on the one hand, to keep our eyes fixed toward the fulfillment of God's Kingdom and on the other, to build the future of this land, working to evangelize the present, so that it becomes a time of salvation for all. "
"Jesus in the Gospel urges us to keep firmly in mind and heart the certainty that God leads our history and knows the final end of things and events. Under the merciful gaze of the Lord history unfolds in its uncertain flow and in its interweaving of good and evil. But all that happens is preserved in Him; our life can not be lost because it is in His hands. "