Through his message, the Holy Father urges us to rediscover in the poor “in a new way always the most genuine features of the Father's face. "They have a lot to teach us." At the same time, he urges us to live a profound charity, that of "a Father for the poor and close to the poor." This teaches Jesus, who "not only is on the side of the poor, but shares with them the same fate."

The Pope calls for World Day of the Poor “to be able to take root more and more in our local Churches and to open up to an evangelistic movement that will meet the poor in the first place where they are. We can't wait for them to knock on our door, it is urgent to reach them in their homes, in hospitals and nursing homes, on the streets and in the dark corners where they sometimes hide, in the refuge and reception centers ”.

And we want to be an outgoing Church, which knows how to go to meet the poor where they live and also suffer; a Church that knows how to dialogue with the poor and this is a very important aspect in this time of the synodal path.

Therefore, I urge our ecclesial community to feel responsible for the poor and many are engaged in this silent and concrete love for them, from parishioners to consecrated persons, from parish Caritas workers to various social organizations. We need to be more and more responsible and do even more, because the poor are waiting.

Attention to the poor should also be accompanied by concrete gestures of faith and charity. Therefore, I ask that, on this Day, the attention to the poor be real, inviting them to share in the Eucharistic table, praying with them and for them, and after the liturgy to be shared in the table of fraternal charity and generous. Invite the faithful to bring food offerings to the sacrifice at the foot of the altar to be distributed to the poor. Moreover, after the liturgy, go to the homes of the poor, bring them what is needed, sit at their table sharing food and hope.

I want World Day of the Poor to be not only the celebration of a different day, but also the beginning of another way to serve and love the poor; This may already be happening, but there must be more enthusiasm, more generosity, more attention to the poor near and far, to the unknown.

"The poor are true evangelists," said Pope Francis. Therefore, the gospel of charity should be the source of an ever new way of being a community of believers on this earth.

On Saturday, November 13, we also invited our poor to the Cathedral "Divine Providence", to share the gift of the Eucharist, and after the liturgy and the bread of charity. Of course, in addition to the poor, we also invited consecrated persons, available priests, and believers engaged in our charitable work.

I thank all those who, in various ways, are close to the poor, doing what is possible, because, as Pope Francis says, "we are also poor."

† Anton Coșa

Bishop of Chisinau