Pope Leo XIV and the Poor

A few days ago, Pope Leo XIV released the first major church document of his pontificate.  Given credit where credit is due, he freely states in paragraph three of Dilexi Te that Pope Francis started Dilexi Te but, with his own love and concern for the poor, Pope Leo was “happy to make this document” his own as he added some reflection (Dilexi Te, 3). 

As I read the document myself, what I kept seeing in it was how we should look at the poor.  Our concern for the poor is not simply a matter of doing earthly acts to help them.  Dilexi Te repeatedly invites us to think about our attitude towards the poor. 

The poor may have “no influence of resources” and often are treated “with violence and contempt” with “little power.”  No matter how little they have in earthly things, what they have in abundance is God’s love. 

Pope Leo reminds us that our Lord has “lifted up the lowly” and has “filled the hungry with good things and sent the right way empty” (Luke 1:52-53) (Dilexi Te, 1).  Jesus identifies with “with the lowest ranks of society…he confirms the dignity of every human being” (Dilexi Te, 2).  We need to see the poor in the same way. 

Pope Leo XIV points us to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” How we treat people in need is how we treat Jesus.  Do we show them the same love Jesus shows them and shows us?  To encounter the power is to encounter Jesus (Dilexi Te, 5). 

When his people were slaves in Egypt, God heard and answered their cry (Dilexi Te, 8).  He hears the cry of the poor today.  God sees how we respond to the cry of the poor ourselves.   

Poverty is not simply about money.  It involves other needs (see Dilexi Te, 9).  Loving the poor begins with providing for their needs today but our love extends beyond this to include efforts based on love to remove “the social and structural causes of poverty” (Dilexi Te, 10).  As Pope Leo writes, “A concrete commitment to the poor must also be accompanied by a change in mentality” (Dilexi Te, 11).  We all need to ask ourselves what attitude do we hold within our hearts towards the poor.  Do we allow the strongest to take advantage of the poor?  There is no love for one’s neighbor in that. 

We must remember, as Pope Leo writes, “The poor are not there by chance or blind and cruel fate.  Nor, for most of them, is poverty a choice.  Yet, there are those who still presume to make this claim, thus revealing their own blindness and cruelty” (Dilexi Te, 14).  Are there a few people among the poor who are poor because they are lazy?  Perhaps, but this is not true for most.  They do not ask to be poor.  In the love of Christ, we must offer them not just a hand out but a hand up.   

When we come seeking a personal relationship with God in prayer, we must do so first having loved the poor, not oppressing them (see Dilexi Te, 17).   

Pope Leo reminds us of how Jesus experienced rejection like the poor, as there was no place of Jesus in the inn (see Luke 2:7) and the Holy Family had to flee to Egypt when King Herod rejected Jesus (cf. Matthew 2:13-15, Dilexi Te, 19).  Jesus shared in what the poor have experienced.  Knowing their suffering, Jesus loves the poor as He says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” 

Pope Leo reminds us of the words of the Apostle John, “Those who do not a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20, Dilexi Te, 24).  Here I ask you why do you help the poor?  Is it so you can get into Heaven or is it because you love them? 

Later, Pope Leo reminds us how we need both faith and works.  If we have faith, we will do good works (cf. James 2:14-17, Dilexi Te, 29). 

Pope Leo then provides examples of how, in the 2,000 year history of our Catholic Church, loving the poor has consistently been part of our mission.  When told to bring the treasures of the Church to the third century Romans, St. Lawrence brought them the poor (Dilexi Te, 38).  Do you see the poor as a treasure or a burden?  One loves a treasure.  One generally seeks to eliminate a burden. 

From the writings of St. Justin, Pope Leo shows how the “nascent Church did not separate belief from social action, faith without witness through concrete actions was considered dead, as Saint James taught us” (cf. 2:17, Dilexi Te, 40).  Pope Leo repeats St. John Chrysostom’s words that charity (love) “is not optional but a requirement of true worship” (Dilexi Te, 42).  Do you help the poor? Do you love the poor? 

Pope Leo also reminds us that St. John Chrysostom affirmed that “not giving to the poor is stealing from them, defrauding them of their lives, because what we have belongs to them” (Dilexi Te, 42).  St. Ambrose said, “What you give to the poor is not your property but theirs” (Dilexi Te, 43).  “Comforting the afflicted is not simply a philanthropic endeavor, but an ecclesial action” (Dilexi Te, 49).   

Later, Pope Leo writes, “the poor were not a problem to be solved, but brothers and sisters to be welcomed” (Dilexi Te, 56).  What is your attitude towards the poor?  It is unfortunate that there are some today which think they can address the homeless problem in our (U.S.) nation’s capital by relocating the homeless outside the city.  To do this is to completely ignore that the homeless are children of God, with the same dignity as us.  They are loved by God.  We are to love them too.  We need to make ourselves one with them (see Dilexi Te, 63) for “they do not need our pity and sympathy, they need our understanding love” (Dilexi Te, 77). 

Whether we act as a politician, professional, or a member of our Catholic Church, we need to listen to the poor with the heart of Christ” (Dilexi Te, 81).  As Gaudium et Spes says, we need to reaffirm the “universal destination of earthly goods” (Dilexi Te, 86).  Wealth exists not for the pride of the rich but for the good of all. 

With this in mind, Pope Leo writes, “Therefore, everyone has the right to possess a sufficient amount of the earth’s goods for themselves and their family…Persons in extreme necessity are entitled to take what they need from the riches of others” (Dilexi Te, 86, my emphasis).  Do not withhold from the poor what they need.  The marketplace and its desire for profit does not take precedence over the common good and the needs of the poor (see Dilexi Te, 92). 

If we love the poor, we will “let ourselves be evangelized” by them (Dilexi Te, 102).  If we love the poor, we will have “a true concern for their person,” which inspires us to “effectively seek their good” (Dilexi Te, 101). 

How do you look at the poor?  Do you help them?  Do you truly love them? 

Peace, 

 Fr. Jeff