Photograph of a homeless person hidden by an over packed shopping cart

God is Living in our Cities

Photography and Art, Politics, Social Commentary

“In big cities, beneath the roar of traffic, beneath the rapid pace of change, so many faces pass by unnoticed because they have no ‘right’ to be there, no right to be part of the city,” Francis said in a Mass before 20,000 at Madison Square Garden. “They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly. These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity.”

Pope Francis, New York, September 25th, 2015

“A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged,” he said.

Pope Francis, The United Nations, September 25th, 2015

“They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly. These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity,” he said in Spanish.

Pope Francis, The United Nations, September 25th, 2015

“They are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the consequences of abuse of the environment,” Francis said. “These phenomena are part of today’s widespread and quietly growing ‘culture of waste.’ ”

Pope Francis, The United Nations, September 25th, 2015

“A hope which liberates us from the forces pushing us to isolation and lack of concern for the lives of others, for the life of our city,” Francis said. “A hope which frees us from empty connections, from abstract analyses or sensationalistic routines. A hope which is unafraid of involvement, which acts as a leaven wherever we happen to live and work. A hope which makes us see, even in the midst of smog, the presence of God as he continues to walk the streets of our city.”

Pope Francis, New York, September 25th, 2015

Header Image, ‘God is Living in our Cities’ (c)Rob Goldstein 2015

 

27 thoughts on “God is Living in our Cities”

  1. Pingback: Featured Posts # 57 … Let me share your post links. | a cooking pot and twistedtales

  3. I love this post. How we treat the homeless, the waitress, the cashier clerk, the poor, those suffering, the elderly etc., is what shows our true character. Everyone deserves respect and dignity until they show us otherwise. Doesn’t mean we are something special for recognizing this, it just means we can look in the mirror and see the reality that life and human dignity is so much more deliberate by the creator than our ego and seperation by class, race, status, etc.

    Liked by 1 person

      2. I didn’t get the depth of his remarks until I read a transcript of the speech…I re-posted most of the transcript here:

        https://robertmgoldstein.com/2015/09/26/a-total-spanking/

        I called it a Total Spanking but I meant that in a good way…Josh Wrenn pointed out that ‘someone else sees what we are capable of’ but he is also old enough to remember what we once were as a nation.

        We’ve never been perfect; but we’ve been a far healthier and more disciplined people than we are now…

        He has basically reminded us of ourselves…and I hope that all of those people who have had to grow up without knowing anything but this disgusting and tyrannical culture of greed will look into history and learn what it is the Pope remembers about the United States.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Times and people definitely have changed, thank God. And I don’t believe that our world is a bad place… it is just not that good yet as it could be. We are still in a big process… but we are in it!

        Liked by 2 people

      5. I know what you mean. It looked too difficult. I really believe that we are within this big change, within that process, which for sure will take its time but the more we stay on track and more people join in the faster things will change!

        Liked by 1 person

  8. For not being Catholic, or even religious, I have to say I admire that man. A real stand-up guy. He knocked it out of the park a coupe of times, I think.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. It’s leadership. He’s talking about true morality which is why the heathens who have been able to rig our system are in a rage. They have spent over thirty years defining morality as sexual chastity and compassion as tax cuts for the rich.

      As Trumpy said it so eloquently: We can’t support regulations to slow climate change because it would place an undue burden on the economy.

      Translation: Don’t expect me or the other rich vampires of my class who feed on misery and deprivation to sacrifice anything.

      Liked by 2 people

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