QuoteProject
No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice
Pope Francis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

We all have a responsibility to care for the poor, regardless of our personal circumstances.

Pope Francis emphasizes that the commitment to social justice and concern for the poor is a vital aspect of our Christian mission. He challenges the notion that one's personal or professional obligations can absolve them from the duty to support those in need, urging that our earthly lives should always reflect our spiritual and communal responsibilities.

Themes

PovertySocial JusticeResponsibilityCompassionService

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech about community service, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of helping the poor.

More from Pope Francis

We are a church of sinners but we must not be afraid of holiness. Do not be afraid to aim for holiness and turn yourselves over to the love of God. Holiness does not mean performing extraordinary things but carrying out daily things in an extraordinary way that is with love, joy and faith.
Pope FrancisRead
I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable.
Pope FrancisRead
We face so many challenges in life: poverty, distress, humiliation, the struggle for justice, persecutions, the difficulty of daily conversion, the effort to remain faithful to our call to holiness, and many others. But if we open the door to Jesus and allow him to be part of our lives, if we share our joys and sorrows with him, then we will experience the peace and joy that only God, who is infinite love, can give.
Pope FrancisRead
More and more people work on Sundays as a consequence of the competitiveness imposed by a consumer society.
Pope FrancisRead
This Christmas may we be consistent in living the Gospel, welcoming Jesus into the centre of our lives.
Pope FrancisRead
The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.
Pope FrancisRead

Similar quotes

Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
Teresa Of AvilaRead
Birth, life, and death― each took place on the hidden side of a leaf.
Toni MorrisonRead
Sometimes when I think of life, I feel like a piece of driftwood washed up on shore.
Haruki MurakamiRead
There is no way you can get people to believe you on screen if they know who you really are through television.
Jack NicholsonRead
That we are surrounded by deep mysteries is known to all but the incurably ignorant.
Chinua AchebeRead
This you may say of man - when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back.
John SteinbeckRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Pope Francis | QuoteProject