Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Aug. 19, 2020. The pope said that the church’s preferential option for the poor includes making sure any vaccine developed for COVID-19 helps everyone. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Faith, hope and love necessarily push us toward this preference for those most in need, which goes beyond necessary assistance. Indeed it implies walking together … to build the better future we all need.” (Pope Francis, papal audience, Rome, Aug. 19, 2020)
As Hawaii faces yet another “work at home, stay at home” order to curb the spread of the coronavirus in our community, it is inspiring to see many working and “walking together” to help and protect the most vulnerable. While we adopt restrictive measures to heal the world of the COVID-19 virus, our Holy Father reminds us that the pandemic has exposed the “larger virus” of “great inequalities and discrimination” that is plaguing the world and crippling the poor.
In his Aug. 19 papal audience address, Pope Francis continued to develop his catechesis “To Heal the World” rooted in the virtues of faith, hope and charity. While he acknowledged people’s desires to return to some sense of normalcy, he urged all to consider an even more radical and hopeful scenario saying: “We are all worried about the social consequences of the pandemic. All of us. Many people want to return to normality and resume economic activities. Certainly, but this ‘normality’ should not include social injustices and the degradation of the environment. The pandemic is a crisis, and we do not emerge from a crisis the same as before: either we come out of it better, or we come out of it worse.”
Pope Francis believes we have an opportunity to build something better. Instead of yearning for a “new normal” our Holy Father calls us to create a new reality –– “a future we all need.”
“We can nurture an economy of the integral development of the poor, and not only of providing assistance,” the pope said. “By this I do not wish to condemn assistance: aid is important and is one of the best structures of the Church. Yes, aid does this, but we must go beyond this, to resolve the problems that lead us to provide aid.”
Inspired by the Gospel mandate of “the preferential option of the poor,” Pope Francis says the Gospel also challenges us all to “design an economy where people, and especially the poorest, are at the center. Following the example of Jesus, the doctor of integral divine love, that is, of physical, social and spiritual healing — like the healing worked by Jesus — we must act now, to heal the epidemics caused by small, invisible viruses, and to heal those caused by the great and visible social injustices. I propose that this be done by starting from the love of God, placing the peripheries at the center and the last in first place.”
HOPE Services Hawaii is a Hawaii island nonprofit affiliated with the Catholic Church inspiring hope by making a difference with vulnerable people. Every day, dedicated staff and volunteers are walking with those severely impacted by the pandemic. During the COVID-19 crisis, HOPE Services has been assisting the houseless on the streets and in shelters, while providing financial aid for rent and utilities to help keep people housed, thereby preventing and, it is hoped, ultimately ending family homelessness.
HOPE is part of the Hawaii County Rent and Mortgage Assistance Program (RMAP) providing county allocated CARES Act funds up to $1,000 for qualified recipients needing help with housing payments. Assistance may include back payments from March 2020 through December 2020. For more information about this program on the Big Island, or ways to walk with those in need of housing, please go to www.hopeserviceshawaii.org or call 935-3050.
As Pope Francis reminds us, when “we are called to walk together with love, anchored in hope and founded in faith … a healthier world will be possible. … May the Lord help us, and give us the strength to come out of it better, responding to the needs of today’s world.”
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
