We follow different laws and customs, written and unwritten. Why are we told that the love of God and love of neighbours is the standard for any other law? “Love is the one thing that cannot hurt our neighbour; that is why love is the reference point for all other commandments (Rom 13: 10). This love is reflected in the living of the Gospel, the experience of the kingdom of God in everyday reality. The Gospel in action asks us to deny ourselves, facing the daily crosses to be taken up.
St. Martin de Porres, whose feast we celebrate today, had a great devotion to the crucifix. He experienced the love of Christ from the Cross, and became a miracle of love for many. He administered medicine and brought healing. He loved everyone with an attitude of humility and service. His love led him to be friendly even with the wild animals and plants.
How does the Gospel place our lives into our living environment? How does the commandment of love find its expression in the reality of our society and culture? How should each one of us commit ourselves in emptying ourselves and taking our crosses? Pope Francis often said: “Let us build bridges of love so that the voices of the periphery with their weeping, but also with their singing and joy, provoke not fear but empathy in the rest of society.” In a recent message on the occasion of the fourth world meeting of popular movements, he asked pharmaceutical companies to release patents that the covid vaccines can be made available to all. He asked to change socio-economic structures that are destructive to humanity.
“In the name of God, I ask financial groups and international credit institutions to allow poor countries to assure ‘the basic needs of their people’ and to cancel those debts that so often are contracted against the interests of those same peoples.
In the name of God, I ask the great extractive industries -- mining, oil, forestry, real estate, agribusiness -- to stop destroying forests, wetlands and mountains, to stop polluting rivers and seas, to stop poisoning food and people.
In the name of God, I ask the great food corporations to stop imposing monopolistic systems of production and distribution that inflate prices and end up withholding bread from the hungry.
In the name of God, I ask arms manufacturers and dealers to completely stop their activity, because it causes violence and war, it contributes to those awful geopolitical games which cost millions of lives displaced and millions dead.
In the name of God, I ask the technology giants to stop exploiting human weakness, people’s vulnerability, for the sake of profits without caring about the spread of hate speech, grooming, fake news, conspiracy theories, and political manipulation.
In the name of God, I ask the telecommunications giants to ease access to educational material and connectivity for teachers via the internet so that poor children can be educated even under quarantine.
In the name of God, I ask the media to stop the logic of post-truth, disinformation, defamation, slander and the unhealthy attraction to dirt and scandal, and to contribute to human fraternity and empathy with those who are most deeply damaged.
In the name of God, I call on powerful countries to stop aggression, blockades and unilateral sanctions against any country anywhere on earth. No to neo-colonialism. Conflicts must be resolved in multilateral fora such as the United Nations. We have already seen how unilateral interventions, invasions and occupations end up; even if they are justified by noble motives and fine words.”
He also asked governments and political parties to stop listening exclusively to the economic elites and represent their people and to work for the common good. He asked religious leaders never to use the name of God to provoke conflicts, rebellions and wars.
This invitation from Pope Francis is a call to restructure our socio-economic models to have a human face which many models have lost. If the love flowed from the crucifix found genuine actions in St Martin, Now, it is our turn to give a living impact of the kingdom of God to the Socio-economic structures we all live in. Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are to be lived and brought to our daily commitments. There is the cross, the narrow door for entering the kingdom of God. The Lord wants us to bring the kingdom of God into action. It is indeed a Gospel challenge.
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