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During the Mass he celebrated this Friday 20 February in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, Pope Francis insisted on the effort of consistency that every Christian must undertake during the season of Lent.
Do not use God to mask injustices
Christians, especially during the season of Lent, are called to live out consistently their love for God and their love for neighbour. This is one of the key passages of the homily of the Mass that Pope Francis celebrated this Friday morning in the Santa Marta chapel. The Pope warned against the one who sends a cheque to the Church and who then behaves unjustly towards his employees. The people protest before the Lord because he does not listen to their fasts. Pope Francis began his meditation from the passage of Isaiah in the first reading. And then he stressed that a distinction must be made between the « formal and the real ». For the Lord, he observed, « it is not a matter of fasting, of not eating meat » and then of « quarrelling and exploiting the workers ». That is why Jesus condemned the Pharisees who performed « so many outward acts but without truth of heart ».
Love for God and for one's neighbour are united
On the contrary, the fast that Jesus desires is the one that breaks unjust chains, that frees the oppressed, that clothes the poor, that does justice. « This, the Pope repeated, is the true fast, the fast that is not only outward, like an external application, but a fast that comes from the heart ». « On the Tablets of the law, there is the law about God and the law about one's neighbour, and both go together. I cannot say : “I keep the first three commandments… and the others, more or less.” No, if you do this, you cannot fail to do that, and if you do that, you must do this. They are united : love for God and love for neighbour are one, and if you want to do a penance that is real and not formal, you must do it before God and with your brother, with your neighbour ».
It is a grave sin to use God to mask injustice
« One can have faith, he continued, but- as the apostle James says- “without works, faith is as it were dead.” What use is it ? Thus, if a person attends Mass every Sunday and receives communion, one can ask them the following questions: « What is your relationship with your employees ? Do you pay them off the books ? Do you pay them a just wage ? Do you pay a contribution for their pension ? To ensure their health care ? ». « How many are the men and women of faith, who have faith but do not share the Tablets of the law : « Yes, I do that »- But do you give alms ?- Yes, I always send a cheque to the Church- Ah, all right. But with your Church, at home, with those who depend on you- whether your children, your grandparents, your employees- are you generous ? Are you just ? You cannot make offerings to the Church to cover up the injustice you commit with your employees. That is a very grave sin : it is using God to mask injustice ». « And this, he went on, is what the prophet Isaiah makes us understand today in the name of the Lord”: “Whoever does not do justice to the persons who depend on him is not a good Christian”. And he is not a good Christian, he added, who does not part with something he needs in order to give it to another who is in need ». The path of Lent, he further said, « is twofold, towards God and towards one's neighbour : that is to say, it is real and not merely formal. It is not only not eating meat on Friday, doing something and then increasing selfishness, the exploitation of one's neighbour, the ignoring of the poor ». There is the one who, the Pope recounts, if he needs treatment, goes to the hospital and, as he is affiliated to a health scheme, is seen at once. « That is a good thing, the Pope commented, he thanks the Lord. But, tell me, have you thought of those who do not have this same social relationship with the hospital and who, when they arrive, must wait 6, 7 or 8 hours, even for something urgent. »
During Lent, we make room in our heart for the one who has committed a fault
There are people, in Rome, he warned, who live like this, and Lent is the time « to think of them: what can I do for the children, for the elderly who do not have the possibility of being seen by a doctor », who perhaps wait « eight hours and then get an appointment for the following week ». « What are you doing for these people ? » asks Pope Francis. « Thanks be to God, I have a family that keeps the commandments, who have no problems… » « But in this season of Lent, the Pope asks again, is there in your heart a place for those who have not kept the commandments ? Who have done wrong and are in prison ? » : « No, not those people… But he is in prison : if you are not in prison, it is because the Lord has helped you not to fall. In your heart, do prisoners have a place ? Do you pray for them so that the Lord may help them to change their lives ? Accompany, Lord, our Lenten journey so that the outward observance may correspond to a deep renewal of the Spirit. This is our prayer. May the Lord grant us this grace ».
Source:news.va/fr
