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FRANCESCO'S LESSON: "THE ABYSS OF INDIFFERENCE"

Vatican City  ||  | 12 March 2020
Iniziative (EN) - Maison de la Paix (EN)

Pope Francis in the homily this morning from Santa Marta called the world to the "ABYSS OF INDIFFERENCE".
We were in Lampedusa on 8 July 2013 when Pope Francis alerted the world to the "globalization of indifference", to our "inability to cry, to suffer with, to share the pain of others".
This morning the Pope took inspiration from the page of the Gospel that tells the episode of Lazarus and the rich man: the first was welcomed by Abraham into Heaven, the second suffered in the underworld pleading with Abraham to take him "to the other side". But Abraham replied "there is an abyss between us".
The Pope highlighted the short circuit between head and heart, between reason and emotion: we are all informed of the miseries and tragedies of the world, of the poor who are beside us but we are all indifferent, immersed in "ABYSS OF INDIFFERENCE".
In this way we lose our identity, lost in a meaningless egoism, we entrust our evaluations "permeated only in the culture of adjectives: the rich, the powerful, the landowner ...".
In this way we are all nameless, insignificant.
Years ago, with our dear Sister Maria Pia Giudici - who disappeared a few days ago - we were commenting on this page of the Gospel and the considerations were similar to those of Pope Francis today.
"Humanity needs a shock - Sister Maria Pia said to me - to take on a NEW POSTURE in life: able to open our eyes and heart to the poor, the needy, the refugees".
And immediately after he stroked some Syrian refugee children hosted in San Biagio.
I believe that the difficulties of these days must make us reflect on how life can change in a single instant and how indispensable it is to "change posture": helping the most needy, respecting the land that welcomes us, sharing the available resources without useless hoarding that they bring, today, 20% of the inhabitants of the earth to own 80% of resources and goods.
The experience of this historical period - unique for many of us - must lead us to review our life even in small daily actions, to transform LOVE FOR POWER into the POWER OF LOVE.