{"id":15825,"date":"2016-09-03T10:22:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T10:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor-63271\/"},"modified":"2016-09-03T10:22:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T10:22:00","slug":"pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove is the highest expression of life; it allows us to exist!\u201d the Pope said Sept. 3, speaking to an audience of workers and volunteers of mercy present for a special Jubilee in their honor.<\/p>\n

When confronted with this \u201ctruth of the faith,\u201d the Church, he said, \u201ccannot look away and turn her back on the many forms of poverty that cry out for mercy\u2026 Calvary is always real; it has not disappeared at all, nor does it remain with us merely as a nice painting in our churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

To walk by and ignore the man dying on the side of the road, he said, \u201cis a serious sin! It\u2019s a modern sin, it\u2019s the sin of today!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Christians cannot allow ourselves to be like this,\u201d Francis said, adding that \u201cit is not worthy of the Church nor of any Christian to pass by on the other side and to pretend to have a clean conscience simply because we have said our prayers!\u201d<\/p>\n

The culmination of love and compassion achieved by Christ with his death on the cross \u201cstill speaks to us today and spurs us on to offer ever new signs of mercy,\u201d the Pope continued, adding reiterating what he has said on several occasions: \u201cthe mercy of God is not some beautiful idea, but rather a concrete action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis\u2019 catechesis was given as part of a special Sept. 2-4 Jubilee for Workers and Volunteers of Mercy, which is part of his wider Holy Year of Mercy and coincides with the canonization of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.<\/p>\n

The jubilee will culminate Sunday, Sept. 4, with the canonization Mass for Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, considered one of the greatest witnesses of mercy in our time.<\/p>\n

Before Pope Francis spoke during the catechesis session, he heard the testimony of an Italian man who experienced mercy from the chaplains and volunteers while serving time in prison. He also listened to the story of Sr. Sally, a Missionary of Charity sister who survived the bloody March 4 attack on their convent in Yemen that left 16 dead, including four sisters.<\/p>\n

In his speech, the Pope focused on the scripture passage for the event, in which St. Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians speaks about love, which \u201cnever ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

This teaching, he said, \u201cmust be for us an unshakable certainty; the love of God will never diminish in our lives or in human history. It is a love which remains forever youthful, active, dynamic and which has an attraction beyond all telling.\u201d<\/p>\n

God\u2019s love comes toward us like \u201ca swelling river that engulfs us without overwhelming us,\u201d he said, adding that the more we allow ourselves to be taken in by this love, the more our lives will be renewed.<\/p>\n

Francis stressed that the love St. Paul describes is not an \u201cabstract of vague\u201d idea, but is something seen, touched and experienced firsthand.<\/p>\n

Jesus is \u201cthe greatest and most expressive form of this love,\u201d he said, explaining that the Lord\u2019s entire life and being \u201care nothing other than the concrete revelation of the Father\u2019s love, reaching its highest expression on the Cross.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing the participants directly, Pope Francis said they as volunteers and workers of mercy \u201care among the most precious things the Church has.\u201d<\/p>\n

By working silently every day in service to others, \u201c(you) give shape and visibility to mercy. You express one of the most noble desires of the human heart, making a suffering person feel loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the workers and volunteers to never forget that they \u201ctouch the flesh of Christ\u201d with their own hands daily in their work and encouraged them to be generous in solidarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world stands in need of concrete signs of solidarity, especially as it is faced with the temptation to indifference,\u201d he said, noting how true solidarity requires people who are ready to \u201cdefy such individualism, which is the tendency to think only of oneself and to ignore the brother or sister in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to going beyond individualism and indifference, Francis urged the volunteers to \u201calways (be) happy and full of joy\u201d in their service, but cautioned them \u201cnever presume to think that you are superior to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, let your work of mercy be a humble and eloquent continuation of Jesus\u2019 presence who continues to bend down to our level to take care of the ones who suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis concluded his address noting how he will proclaim Mother Teresa a saint tomorrow, Sept. 4, adding \u201cShe deserves it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother Teresa\u2019s witness to mercy, he said, \u201cwill join the vast array of men and women who, by their holiness of life, have made the love of Christ visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us also imitate their example, as we ask to be humble instruments in God\u2019s hands in order to alleviate the world\u2019s sufferings, and to share the joy and hope of the resurrection,\u201d he said, and closed by leading pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer for all those who are suffering, for the indifferent, and for the volunteer and workers \u201cwho go out to encounter the flesh of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nPope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...\" \/>\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.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_speaks_during_an_aurience_with_workers_and_volunteers_of_mercy_Sept_3_2016_Credit_Daniel_Ibaez_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/\",\"name\":\"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor","description":"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor","og_description":"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_speaks_during_an_aurience_with_workers_and_volunteers_of_mercy_Sept_3_2016_Credit_Daniel_Ibaez_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/","name":"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-03T10:22:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 \/ 04:22 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/pope-calvary-isnt-just-a-painting-on-the-wall-its-the-reality-of-the-poor\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope: Calvary isn\u2019t just a painting on the wall \u2013 it\u2019s the reality of the poor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}