14/06/2026
14 June 2026
THE POOR APOSTLES
My dear brothers and sisters,
Pentecost has closed. The vast cycle of moveable Easter feasts, from the Sunday of
the Publican and the Pharisee to the Sunday of All Saints, has been completed. We
are re-entering the smooth flow of the liturgical church year. The reading of the
Gospel of John has ended and the reading of the Gospel of Matthew has already
begun from the previous Sunday.
Christ calls his first disciples today. Peter and Andrew, John and James, constitute
the beginning of the apostles (2nd Sunday of Matthew).
Christ gradually completed the group of twelve and then the seventy apostles.
During the three years he was with them, he took care to prepare them in every way
for their great mission. He also sent them on short tours to the cities and villages of
Israel, to be trained in apostolic action.
He provided them with the spiritual supplies necessary for their work, but he
especially cautioned them not to worry about material things. “Do not acquire gold or
silver or copper in your belts.” Do not carry money purses, he told them. Do not have
a bag for your provisions, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff. “The laborer is
worthy of his food.” You will be fed by those for whom you labor (Matt. 10:9-10).
Thus Christ legislated, “those who preach the Gospel shall live from the Gospel.” He
commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the support of those
who hear the gospel preaching.
1
The apostles, however, imitating the poverty of their Lord, generally used this right
sparingly. They made limited and discreet use of it, “giving no offense to anyone,”
that is, avoiding any cause for scandal, “so that the ministry would not be blamed.”
So that there would be no reproach, no accusation against their work, which was the
preaching of the Gospel (1 Cor. 9:12).
Thus, in order to be true ministers of God, in order not to provoke and scandalize the
faithful, they lived austerely and in poverty. “As poor, … as having nothing.” They
lived “in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” In simple words,
they were hungry and thirsty, deprived of food, and found themselves in the cold
without proper clothing (1 Cor. 9:14. 2 Cor. 6:3. 10. 11, 27).
Paul suffered more than anyone else, because he did not want to make any use of
his authority to live from the Gospel, that is, to be supported by the believers. “I have
desired no silver or gold or clothing,” he says. For my own needs and those of my
collaborators, these hands of mine have worked. He worked in the small margins of
his time as a tentmaker, so as not to create “any obstacle,” not the slightest obstacle
to the work of the Gospel (Acts 20:33-34; 1 Cor. 9:12).
The apostles considered the love of money to be the root of all evil. They called
greed idolatry (1 Tim. 6:10; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). They especially emphasized to their
successors, the bishops, to be free from love of money (1 Tim. 3:3).
And indeed, over time, many of them imitated the apostolic spirit. But others did the
opposite. They considered “godliness to be gain” (1 Tim. 6:5). An opportunity to get
rich. But they went with their money to destruction (Acts 8:20).
Today? Is there anything left of the spirit of the apostles?
There is already deep skepticism about the scandalous sudden benefits of the state
to the leaders of the Church, at a time when the world is suffering. What is the
purpose of this embrace? Is it aimed at political transaction and collusion?
2
And Caesar, well. He does his job. He creates his strongholds wherever he can, in
the way he knows how.
But the ecclesiastical rulers? With what freedom will they act and what right do they
expect to do, tied with a golden bridle to his chariot? Amen.
