{"id":12014,"date":"2020-07-08T11:52:59","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T15:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/?p=12014"},"modified":"2020-07-08T11:52:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T15:52:59","slug":"pope-seek-the-face-of-god-in-the-poor-sick-abandoned-and-foreigners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/pope-seek-the-face-of-god-in-the-poor-sick-abandoned-and-foreigners\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/etc\/designs\/vatican-news\/release\/library\/main\/images\/vatican-news-header-white.png\" alt=\"Vatican News\"\/>                                                                                                                                                                <\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/content\/dam\/vaticannews\/agenzie\/images\/srv\/2020\/07\/08\/2020-07-08-santa-messa-celebrata-da-papa-francesco-nell-annivers\/1594200070762.jpg\/_jcr_content\/renditions\/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg\" alt=\"Pope Francis celebrated Mass on July 8, 2020, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to Italy&#039;s Lampedusa island.\"\/>                            Pope Francis celebrated Mass on July 8, 2020, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to Italy&#039;s Lampedusa island.                 (Vatican Media)                                                    <\/figure>\n<p>                                     POPE<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>                                                Pope Francis                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                mass                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                santa marta                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                migrants and refugees                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                anniversary                                        <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>                      Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners           Pope Francis on Wednesday celebrated the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, with a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel.                                     <\/p>\n<p>By Vatican News<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today. <\/p>\n<p>Celebrating a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Pope recalled the words of Jesus &#8211; \u201cWhatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me\u201d.  He said this warning, for better or for worse, is a burning issue today. <\/p>\n<p>The July 8, 2013 visit of the Pope to the Mediterranean island was the first of his pontificate after his election on 13 March of the same year.  During the visit, he threw a floral wreath in the sea in memory of some 20,000 migrants who died while trying to cross the Mediterranean.  He briefly met and spoke to some young African migrants before celebrating an open-air Mass.<\/p>\n<p>The visit is highly symbolic of the pontificate of the Argentine Pope, who wants the Church to be an inclusive one that goes forth to the peripheries, to include all, leaving no one out. <\/p>\n<h2>Seeking God\u2019s face in others<\/h2>\n<p>Noting that the day\u2019s psalm speaks about seeking the face of God, the Pope said that this fundamental attitude is the ultimate goal of all the faithful. <\/p>\n<p>In this regard, the Prophet Hosea in the first reading, speaks about how the people of Israel had drifted away from the Lord because of abundance, prosperity and riches which filled their heart with falsehood and injustice, &quot;a sin, from which even we, modern Christians, are not immune.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Globalization of indifference<\/h2>\n<p>Recalling his homily of 7 years ago in Lampedusa, the Pope said that the \u201cculture of comfort, makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people.\u201d  It creates a fleeting and empty illusion, leading to indifference to others, even to the globalization of indifference.  \u201cWe have become used to the suffering of others: it doesn\u2019t affect me; it doesn\u2019t concern me; it\u2019s none of my business!\u201d the Pope said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety,\u201d the Pope said echoing the call of Hosea to conversion. <\/p>\n<h2>Personal encounter entails mission<\/h2>\n<p>Seeking the face of the Lord, the Holy Father said, entails the desire for a personal encounter with the Lord, just as it happened with the twelve apostles, as narrated in the day\u2019s Gospel.  This personal encounter with the Lord, which is a time of grace and salvation, he explained,  \u201cimmediately entails a mission\u201d \u2013 to proclaim that \u201cthe kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cWhatever you did\u2026 you did for me\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>This mission, the Pope said, is also for the disciples of the third millennium.  \u201cAs we undertake to seek the face of the Lord, we may recognize Him in the face of the poor, the sick, the abandoned, and the foreigners whom God places on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recalling the words of Jesus, \u201cwhatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me\u201d, the Pope said, \u201cthe encounter with the other is also an encounter with Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is He who knocks on our door, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, seeking an encounter with us and requesting our assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis urged Christians to use the words of Jesus as a fundamental element to examine our conscience on a daily basis.  In this regard, he thought of the detention camps in Libya, \u201cthe abuses and violence that migrants are victims of, journeys of hope, rescue operations, and push-backs.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The Pope concluded, urging the Virgin Mary, under the title, \u201cSolace or Comfort of Migrants\u201d, to help Christians to \u201c discover the face of Her Son in all our brothers and sisters who are forced to flee from their homeland because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/etc\/designs\/vatican-news\/release\/library\/main\/images\/support-comunicazione-banner.png\" alt=\"Your contribution for a great mission:support us in bringing the Pope&#039;s words into every home\" title=\"Your contribution for a great mission:support us in bringing the Pope&#039;s words into every home\"\/>                                       <\/figure>\n<p>                 Your contribution for a great mission:<br \/>support us in bringing the Pope&#039;s words into every home                                         Topics          <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>                                                Pope Francis                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                mass                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                santa marta                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                migrants and refugees                                        <\/li>\n<li>                                                anniversary                                        <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>                                                    08 July 2020, 11:25              <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>                              Send                      <\/li>\n<li>                              Print                      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Francis celebrated Mass on July 8, 2020, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to Italy&#039;s Lampedusa island. (Vatican Media) POPE Pope Francis mass santa marta migrants and refugees anniversary Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners Pope Francis on Wednesday celebrated the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, with a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel. By Vatican News<br \/>\n Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today.<br \/>\n Celebrating a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Pope recalled the words of Jesus &#8211; \u201cWhatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me\u201d. He said this warning, for better or fo..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners - WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/pope-seek-the-face-of-god-in-the-poor-sick-abandoned-and-foreigners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners - WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pope Francis celebrated Mass on July 8, 2020, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to Italy&#039;s Lampedusa island. (Vatican Media) POPE Pope Francis mass santa marta migrants and refugees anniversary Pope: Seek the face of God in the poor, sick, abandoned and foreigners Pope Francis on Wednesday celebrated the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, with a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel. By Vatican News Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians to discover the face of Jesus in the migrants, refugees and the displaced who are forced to flee because of the many injustices that still afflict our world today.  Celebrating a Mass in the Vatican\u2019s Casa Santa Marta chapel, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of his visit to the migrants in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Pope recalled the words of Jesus - \u201cWhatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me\u201d. 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