Pope Francis' message is an echo of the message of the Old Testament prophets. Below is a description of their message from Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord, Vol. 6, p.316.
If the Messiah of the final times is
to establish on earth the divine justice which is based on God's grace, and if
this deed essentially affects those without rights, the oppressed, who cannot
help themselves, then the 'poor man' moves more strongly than before into the
center of attention. The poverty of the population of the land, who were
shamelessly exploited in the time of Amos and Isaiah and the newly founded
Royal system of government, was seen by the prophets both as a scandal of
economics and ethics and as a scandal in terms of covenant theology. Poverty as
such is not a value, should not be, and must at all costs be abolished. It
humiliates the human person to the status of a needy beggar, to one who is
bowed down, thin, physically and intellectually weak, one who is absolutely
poor. Job describes how the poor are naked and hungry at night, like beasts in
the fields and in the vineyards of the rich were they look for food – and it is
these same rich people who have stolen their fields and garments. (24:2-12) Deuteronomy
thinks of these poor when laying down the law, and the wisdom teachers warned
against turning away one's eyes from them, lest their curse follow the one who
is well fed (Sir 5)
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