“God will not judge people by how many university degrees they have obtained, but by how well they have cared for the poor,” Pope Francis told a group of priests and nuns.
“The Lord will not ask us: ‘What have you studied?’ ‘How many degrees do you have?’ ‘How many works have you done?’ No, no. The Lord will say: ‘Come with me, for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was persecuted and you protected me,'” the Pope said.
“This is the theme of the final examination by which we will be judged,” the Pope said on August 12 at a meeting with members of the general chapters of the Dominican Missionary Sisters of Saint Sixtus, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary and the Vocationist Fathers.
Francis joked that it was “efficient” of the Vatican to call all members of the General Chapter together in an audience, since it was “chapter season” in Rome.
All four orders, he said, were founded with the aim of supporting and training young people from poor families who would otherwise not receive the necessary training and guidance to discover their vocation.
The founders of the four orders “saw in them a sign from God for their mission,” the Pope said. “In the same way, it will be good for you too, especially in these days of community discernment, to keep the face of the poor constantly before your eyes.”
“Jesus speaks to us in our neediest brothers and sisters,” Francis said, “and in every gift we give them, the love of God is reflected.”
And while the art of spiritual discernment is a specialty of vocationists, the pope told the religious that it is important for all Christians to learn to make decisions by listening to God, to others and to their own hearts.
Discernment, he said, involves “prayer, meditation, patient waiting, and then courage and sacrifice” to put into action what God “insists on our hearts, without ever imposing his will on us.”
The possibility of choosing is a sign of the freedom that God gives to every person, said the Pope.
“Our world needs to rediscover the taste and beauty of choice, especially when it comes to definitive choices that represent a decisive turning point in life, such as professional choices,” he said. Young people need spiritual fathers and mothers who can help them understand that “freedom does not mean staying forever at a crossroads, making little ‘escape routes’ to the right and left without ever really choosing a path.”
“To be free means to embark on a journey – certainly with intelligence and prudence, but also with boldness and a spirit of renunciation, in order to grow and progress in the dynamic of giving and to be happy and loving according to God’s plan,” the Pope told them.
