Francis at the Angelus: on Sunday, November 11, the bells throughout the world will ring. There are still conflicts, “we do not seem to learn”. And he warns: God unmasks those who oppress the weak based on religious motives.

"God unmasks those who oppress the weak based on religious motives". Pope Francis says so at today's Angelus, November 11, 2018, in St. Peter's Square. The Pope draws attentions to the centenary of the First World War: he recalls that today at 1:30 p.m. the bells throughout the world will ring, including those of the St. Peter Basilica in the Vatican, and launches a heartfelt appeal: we must invest in peace, not in war. The Pope expresses his bitterness at the clashes that still exist today, observing: "we do not seem to learn" from the past.

The Bishop of Rome, in front of 20,000 faithful and pilgrims (given by the Vatican Gendarmerie) remarks: "Today's Gospel episode closes the series of teachings Jesus gave in the temple of Jerusalem, highlighting two opposing figures: the scribe and the widow. The first represents the important, rich, influential people; the other represents the last, the poor, the weak". In reality, the "resolute judgment of Jesus towards the scribes does not concern the whole category, but is referred to those among them who flaunt their social position, boast the title of "rabbi", that is, master, those who love to be revered and occupy the top positions. What is worse is that their ostentation is above all of a religious nature, because they pray "for a long time, so they can be seen" and use God to accredit themselves as defenders of His law". And this attitude of "superiority and vanity leads them to contempt for those who count little or are in a disadvantageous economic position, like widows".

The Pope points out: "Jesus unmasks this perverse mechanism: he denounces the oppression of the weak based on religious motives”, clearly saying that "God is on the side of the last".

The Pontiff notes: to "imprint this lesson well on the minds of the disciples" Christ "offers them a living example: a poor widow, whose social position was irrelevant because she lacked a husband who could defend her rights, and who therefore became easy prey to some unscrupulous creditor". This woman, "who goes to lay two coins in the treasure of the temple, all that was left to her, makes her offer trying to go unnoticed, almost ashamed. But, precisely in this humility, she performs an act full of great religious and spiritual significance". Her gesture is "full of sacrifice" that does not escape "the attentive gaze of Jesus, who indeed sees in it the total gift of self shine, a gifts to which he wants to educate his disciples”.

The teaching of the Son of God "helps us to recover what is essential in our lives and fosters a concrete and daily relationship with God. The scales of the Lord - the Pope warns - are different from ours. He weighs people and their gestures differently: he does not measure quantity but quality, he scrutinizes the heart and looks at the purity of intentions". This means that "our "giving" to God in prayer and to others in charity should always avoid ritualism and formalism, as well as the logic of calculation, and be an expression of gratuitousness, as Jesus did with us: he saved us for free; he did not make us pay for redemption. He saved us for free. And we must do things as an expression of gratuitousness".

That is why Jesus points out "that poor and generous widow as a model of Christian life to imitate. We don't know her name, but we know her heart - we will find her in Heaven and we will certainly go and greet her; and that's what counts before God". So, when "we are tempted by the desire to appear and to account for our gestures of altruism, when we are too interested in the gaze of others and - allow me the word - when we turn into "peacocks", we shall think of this woman. It will do us good: it will help us to strip ourselves of the superfluous to go to what really matters, and to remain humble".

After the Marian Prayer, Francis points out that today "marks the centenary of the end of the First World War, which my predecessor Benedict XV called "useless slaughter". That is why today, at 1:30 p.m. Italian time, bells will ring all over the world, including those of St. Peter's Basilica". Then he adds: "The historical page of the First World War is for all a severe warning to reject the “culture of war” and to “seek every legitimate means to put an end to those conflicts that still are making blood flow in many regions of the world”. “We don't seem to learn" he said, and while "we pray for all the victims of that immense tragedy, let us say strongly: let us invest in peace, not in war! And, as an emblematic sign, let us take that of the great Saint Martin of Tours, whom we remember today: he cut his cloak in two to share it with a poor man. May this gesture of human solidarity - Francis invokes - show everyone the way toward build peace".

The Pope also recalls that "next Sunday we will celebrate the World Day of the Poor, with many initiatives of evangelization, prayer and sharing. Here, too, in St Peter's Square, a First Aid station will be set up for a week to offer medical care to those in need". The Pope hopes "that this Day will encourage greater attention to the needs of the least, the marginalized and the hungry".

Finally, "I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye.