THANK YOU POPE LEO FOR PLACING CONVERSION TO CHRIST AS THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH’S CHARITABLE OUTREACH TO THE POOR, NOT JUST FOR THOSE WHO DO THE OUTREACH BUT FOR THOSE WHO RECEIVE IT!

Great commentary from Silere non possum:

December 5, 2025, Vatican City

Leo XIV: "We are not our possessions and our things, but rather God's beloved children."

Vatican City - On the eve of the Concert with the Poor, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Leo XIV met with the event's organizers and featured artists, offering a thoughtful reflection that goes far beyond the realm of music. The Pontiff placed the event—now in its sixth year—at the heart of the preparation for Holy Christmas, when the Church contemplates the mystery of a God who becomes poor, close, and concrete.

The concert, promoted by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, will bring together three thousand people, including the homeless, migrants, prisoners with special permits, and men and women experiencing serious social hardship. They will be the guests of honor: in the front rows, in front of a Paul VI Hall that can accommodate up to eight thousand people, while Michael Bublé, artistic director Msgr. Marco Frisina, the Nova Opera Orchestra, and the Choir of the Diocese of Rome will take turns performing on stage.

This morning, however, the Pope wanted to bring everything back to the center: not a charity event, not a Christmas show, but a gesture born of the Gospel. Once again, Leo XIV takes by the hand a Church that, in recent years, has often ended up perceiving itself as a simple "charity association," and leads it once again before Christ Jesus. It is there that the Pope points to the Lord and reminds us that everything we do—however useful and praiseworthy—losses substance if it does not lead first to the conversion of our own hearts, and then to that of others.

"The Concert with the Poor, then, is not just a performance by talented artists or a simple musical festival, however beautiful it may be, nor even a moment of solidarity to ease our consciences in the face of society's injustices. I would like us, by participating in this event, to remember the words of the Lord: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me." It is so! If we truly love those who are hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick, the stranger, the imprisoned, we are loving the Lord. 

This is the Gospel: "We are not on the horizon of charity, but of Revelation: contact with those without power and greatness is an immediate path to encounter with the Lord of history. In the poor, He still has something to say to us." It reminds us that the dignity of men and women is not measured by their possessions: we are not our possessions and our belongings, but rather children beloved by God; and this same love must be the measure of our actions towards our neighbor. "For this reason, in our Concert, the most fragile brothers and sisters occupy the first place," said the Pope.

God is love that draws near.

Leo XIV spoke from the theological root of the initiative. Christmas, he recalled, is not an atmosphere, but the moment in which "God himself pursues the lost sheep," as Benedict XVI wrote in Deus caritas est. The Pope reiterated this vision: the Son who becomes a child and entrusts himself to human parents is the icon of divine love, the sign that our dignity does not depend on our possessions. "God is charity, he is love," he reiterated, emphasizing that only love fully fulfills humanity. It is through this lens that the profound meaning of the concert should be understood. 

Not Charity, but Revelation

Leo XIV was explicit: "We are not within the horizon of charity." The Pope cited his exhortation Dilexi te to illustrate his point: contact with the powerless is an immediate path to encountering the Lord. In the poor, he said, "He still has something to say to us." These words reverse the perspective: it is not the poor who need the event, but we who need them to understand the Gospel. This is why the front rows of the Paul VI Hall will be reserved for them. It is a gesture both symbolic and real, an evangelical reversal that demonstrates that the Church recognizes the face of Jesus in the most vulnerable.

Music as a Path to Beauty

The Pope then focused on the value of music in Christian life. Not a simple liturgical ornament, but an instrument that elevates the soul and introduces us to the mystery. He quoted Saint Augustine: "Sing artfully, O brothers." Care, commitment, harmony: values ​​that Christian tradition has always recognized in music. With a smile, Leo XIV added: "Please sing well tomorrow!" But behind the joke was a precise vision: music is a form of love, a via pulchritudinis capable of leading to God, because beauty is a gift offered to all, rooted in common human dignity.

The Pope's thanks

Leo XIV thanked each and every one of those who make the concert possible: the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Msgr. Marco Frisina, his diocese of Rome, the Nova Opera Orchestra and Foundation, Michael Bublé, and all the artists, as well as the partners supporting the event. He then entrusted everyone to the protection of Mary Immaculate, "the door of Advent and woman of hope," and to Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.

A tradition that becomes a Church style

Leo's words this morning show that, for him, the Concert with the Poor is not an event to be honored simply because it is part of a tradition begun by his predecessors. The Pope lives this with conviction, and clarifies that we must place the dignity of the most vulnerable at the center, understand the Church's service as an authentic space for encounter, recognize beauty as a universal language, and affirm that God can be found precisely where the logic of the world turns a blind eye.

s.R.F.

Silere non possum