Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) –
“Whoever lives the mission of Caritas is not simple charitable
worker, but is a true witness of Christ. He is a person who seeks
Christ and allows Christ to seek him; people who love with the spirit
of Christ, a spirit of gratuitousness. … All of our strategies and
plans remain empty unless we carry this love in us”, said Pope
Francis in the homily he pronounced yesterday in St. Peter's Basilica
on the occasion of the beginning of the 20th General Assembly of
Caritas Internationalis.
The Pope commented on the reading from
the Acts of the Apostles in which the jailer of the prison at
Philippi, where Paul and Silas were imprisoned, following the miracle
of the earthquake that opened the doors of the prison, pleaded for
salvation. The story tells us that the man immediately “took the
necessary steps on the path towards faith and salvation: together
with his household, he listened to the Word of the Lord; washed the
wounds of Paul and Silas; received Baptism with his entire family;
and finally, full of joy, he welcomed Paul and Silas into his home,
setting the table and offering them something to eat”.
“We can see in this gesture the
entire vocation of Caritas. Caritas is now a great Confederation,
widely recognised throughout the world for its work and
accomplishments. Caritas is a reality of the Church in many parts of
the world and must still seek a greater expansion in the different
parishes and communities, to renew what took place in the early days
of the Church. In fact, the source of all your service lies in the
simple and docile welcome of God and neighbour. This welcome is first
personally experienced by you, so that you may then go out into the
world, and there, to serve others in the name of Christ, whom you
have met and whom you will continue to meet in every brother and
sister that you will approach as your neighbour. Thanks to this, you
will actually avoid the risk of being reduced to a mere humanitarian
organisation. And the Caritas of each particular Church, even the
smallest, is the same: there is no large Caritas and small Caritas,
they are all equal. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to understand
the true dimension of Caritas; the grace of not being deceived into
thinking that a well-organised centralism is the road to take; the
grace of understanding that Caritas is always in the periphery, in
each particular Church; and the grace of believing that central
Caritas is merely a help, service and experience of communion but not
the overall head”.
“In this way, we can serve everyone
and set the table for all. This is also a beautiful image that the
Word of God offers us today: setting the table. Even now, God sets
the table of the Eucharist. Caritas sets many tables for the hungry.
In recent months you launched the great campaign 'One human family,
food for all'. There are still so many people today who do not have
enough to eat. The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that
there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone. We ought to
set the table for all, and ask that there be a table for all. We must
do what we can so that everyone has something to eat, but we must
also remind the powerful of the Earth that God will call them to
judgement one day and there it will be revealed if they really tried
to provide food for Him in every person (cf. Matt.25: 35) and if they
did what they could to preserve the environment so that it could
produce this food”.
“And thinking about the table of the
Eucharist, we cannot forget our Christian brothers and sisters who
have been violently deprived of the food for the body and for the
soul: they have been driven from their homes and their churches –
at times destroyed. I renew the appeal not to forget these people and
these intolerable injustices. Together with many other charitable
organisations of the Church, Caritas therefore reveals the power of
Christian love and the desire of the Church to reach out to Jesus in
every person, especially the poor and suffering. This is the path
that lies ahead of us and it is with this perspective that I hope
that you will carry out your work during these days”.
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