The ‘Joy of the Gospel’, Evangelii Gaudium, brings to the whole world the good news - the
Gospel. Pope Francis proclaims the basic
message that God loves all of creation, even sinners, and that the Kingdom of
God is here on earth in so far as we love God and neighbor. He cites the message of previous popes of ‘preferential
option for the poor.’ In Pope Francis’
personal invitation to the faithful to work for social justice, love of neighbor,
he does not use the ‘imperial we’ as did previous popes in similar messages. Paul
VI wrote on the same subject in 1975, ‘On Evangelization in the Modern World’ (Evangelii Nuntiandi), and used the
‘imperial we.’ Pope Francis is by
definition a monarch, but he has chosen to be a benevolent dictator and hears
the cry of the people.
Evangelii Gaudium boldly explains that Faith
is confidence and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob creator of all -
a God that works with people to overcome the evil of an individualistic ‘survival
of the fittest’ economic doctrine. With
Jesuit clarity, Pope Francis contrasts the Faith of Jews, Christians and
Muslims in the one true God with faith in the ‘invisible hand’ that is supposed
to regulate the market place. Francis
states:
…some people continue to defend the trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth encouraged by a
free market, will inevitably succeed in
bringing about greater justice in the world. This opinion, which has never been
confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of
those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the economic
system. #54
As pastor of a church without frontiers,
Francis pleads for migrants:
I exhort all countries to a generous
openness which, rather than fearing the loss of identity, will prove capable of
forming a new form of cultural synthesis. #210
In
solidarity with the faithful and the poor Francis laments:
I have always been distressed at the
lot of those who are victims of various kinds of human trafficking. How I wish
all of us would hear God’s cry “Where is your brother?” (Gn. 4:9) Where is the
brother and sister whom you are killing each day in clandestine warehouses, in
rings of prostitution, in children used for begging, in exploiting undocumented
labor? #210
With regard
to his own flock, Francis directs with authority:
We Christians should embrace with affection
and respect Muslim Immigrants to our to our countries … #253
In the ‘Joy of the Gospel’ Francis, the
first American pope, prays with Faith to Mary, the patroness of the Americas, hoping
that his invitation to a new evangelization will be accepted by the
faithful. Francis reminds all of us the
story that the campesino and evangelizer,
Juan Diego, was comforted and strengthened by Our Lady of Guadalupe. #286
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