As Catholics and non-Catholics alike prepare for Pope Francis' visit to the United States in September, the pontiff's message of greater solidarity with poor people is resonating with a wide-ranging group of faith-based social justice advocates. Almost 300 representatives of parishes and organizations from 50 dioceses across the United States aligned with the PICO National Network gathered at St. Joseph's University April 30 and May 1 to launch a yearlong effort of faith formation and social action on poverty to take advantage of the momentum building around the papal trip. The Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States is partnering with the PICO National Network, a coalition of faith-based advocacy organizations, in the effort. Event organizers cited the pope's apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel") and its searing critique of social and economic injustices as motivation for the initiative. Joseph Fleming, executive director of PICO New Jersey, said the yearlong faith formation project was developed because "Catholic parishioners are hungering to connect peace and justice." Catholic organizations make up one-third of PICO's 1.2 million members nationally, making them a prime audience for the effort, he added. While specific programs will be developed locally, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, president of Caritas Internationalis and one of the pope's advisers on Council of Cardinals, provided those gathered with a Gospel-based explanation of why it is important to engage with and advocate on behalf of poor people.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...