On Sunday, November 19, 2017, Pope Francis will preside over a Mass for the First World Day of the Poor, in St. Peter’s Basilica, announced Monsignor Guido Marini, Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations.
It will be the 33rd Sunday of “Ordinary Time.” The Holy Father exhorts the Church to a “pastoral conversion to be a witness of mercy.”
Pope Francis instituted this World Day of the Poor at the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, in his Apostolic Letter “Misericordia et Misera” (paragraph 21).
“In the light of the “Jubilee of socially excluded persons,” while in all the Cathedrals and Shrines of the world the Doors of Mercy were closing, I had the intuition that, as the last concrete sign of this Extraordinary Holy Year, there must be held in the whole Church, on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, the World Day of the Poor, wrote the Pope.
He explained the meaning of this celebration in relation to the liturgical cycle and the mysteries of Christ: “It will be the best preparation to live the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, who identified Himself with the little ones and with the poor and who will judge us on the works of mercy (Cf. Matthew 25:31-46).
He also explained the objectives of the Day of the Poor for Catholic communities. “It will be a Day that will help communities and each baptized <person> to reflect on the way in which poverty is at the heart of the Gospel and on the fact that, as long as Lazarus lies at the door of our home (Cf. Luke 16:19-21) there cannot be justice or social peace.”
For the Pontiff it’s also about the New Evangelization. “This Day will also constitute a genuine form of New Evangelization (Cf. Matthew 11:5) by which the face of the Church will be renewed in her continual action of pastoral conversion to be a witness of mercy,” he said.
JF
