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July 19, 2009 - POPE BREAKS WRIST and HIS MESSAGE LIMPS

by Father Edward L. Beck, C.P.

Pope Benedict fell and broke his wrist this week, perhaps a sign that the aging Pope is indeed becoming more frail. A few weeks ago this same Pope released his latest encyclical called CHARITY IN TRUTH. But there was nothing frail or weak about it. You probably didn’t hear much about it because it said some things that Americans find hard to take. In it the Pope said that our capitalist profit at all costs mentality is simply not acceptable. And, in fact, may be immoral. The stock market, the world market, says the Pope, cannot simply be about profit for it’s own ends or for its own investors, but must consider elements of distributive and social justice. So that the common good must be the ultimate goal. To quote a singer getting a lot of attention in light of his recent tragic death, “We are the World. We Are the Children. So let’s start giving.” In light of recent news reports of record profits by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, even in this economic downturn, we have to begin to wonder if we’re not back to business as usual. Wall Street fat cats getting fatter once again. And the rest of us anorexic, simply limping along. Many economists are saying that we better gear up for another financial crisis down the road because nothing has really changed. And it won’t change until hearts change. Until we really believe it’s unjust for some to have so much and others so little. The TRUTH OF CHARITY is that we must embrace it to fully human. In the Gospel Jesus says that if I have two coats and my neighbor has none, then I must give him one of mine. Sounds simple. But so hard to do. I guess we still don’t believe that We Are the Children, no matter how many times we sing it.

TO WATCH FATHER BECK GIVE THE ABOVE REFLECTION, CLICK HERE: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8115409