Pope urges prayer for proper use of wealth

He released the monthly “Pray with the Pope” video on November 3, which is prepared by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. In his prayer, Pope Leo recalled that everything humanity has comes from the Lord, including “fertile land, the talents we’ve received, the effort of those who came before us”.

“Nothing is ours alone. Everything is a shared gift,” he said.

Yet, so often, the Holy Father observed, “we let the wealth we seek or attain harden our hearts, lock us in selfishness and make us forget the most vulnerable”.

“Forgive us for storing up instead of sharing,” Pope Leo prayed, and “for using goods as power rather than as service.”

The Pope recalled that Jesus reminds people “that true wealth is not found in what we keep, but in what we give with love”.

The Holy Father added that a heart detached from possessions “transforms the world”, for it “opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference and sows hope among the poor”.

Therefore, he said, “we ask you, Lord, that your Spirit teach us to use what we have – money, time, talents, opportunities – as instruments of fraternity”.

“May each economic, family or community decision,” the Pope continued, “spring from a free heart, able to recognise that every good is meant for all and that only by sharing we build the future.”

On November 4, at his weekly general audience, Pope Leo continued his reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s document on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, recalling how the Council applied one of the fundamental principles of social teaching – the universal destination of earthly goods – to the financial sphere.

Gaudium et Spes explained that those who make decisions concerning investments or planning the economy need to ensure that individuals and communities can live a decent life, and also that there is a balance between present-day consumption needs and the demands of the next generations.

“The political community exists for the sake of the common good,” the Pope said. It must be “structured and operate according to local and historical circumstances, but always with the good of the entire human family at heart.”

FULL STORY

Pope’s November prayer intention: ‘For the proper use of wealth’ (By Deborah Castellano Lubov/Vatican News)

Pope at Audience: Politics that tends wounds and fights injustice gives hope (Vatican News)