CARITAS CORNER: Dilexi Te: Who Do You Love?

By Andy Barton

At this writing, a historic government shutdown has left flights delayed and civil servants without pay. More importantly, for over 42 million people who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and six million families relying on support for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the government’s promise of food security has been broken. The safety net that so many count on has become riddled with holes, leaving the most vulnerable further on the margins and feeling left behind. 

When the government falters, the poor and the vulnerable feel it first. Politicians on both sides offer public sympathy for the suffering, but far too often their real energy goes into blaming each other. Blame is endlessly easier than compromise.

Perhaps, by the time you read this, Congress will have struck a deal and reopened the government.  If that is the case, I suspect the outrage over cancelled flights and potential disruption of holiday travel was the proverbial hold that made both sides cry uncle.  The anxiety and pain endured by millions of hungry families have not, thus far, convinced our federal government to fund SNAP and WIC.  When a deal is reached and the headlines move on, the wounds suffered by those who rely on these programs will linger. 

Reason for hope arrived beyond the news cycle in October through a quieter but profound challenge to the Church: Pope Leo’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”).

In his letter “To All Christians on Love for the Poor,” Pope Leo speaks with urgency and clarity, reminding us what it means to follow Christ in a world of inequality. Drawing upon Evangelii Gaudium and the heart of Catholic social teaching, he underscores that care for the poor is the beating heart of the Christian life.

The timing of our new Pope’s first apostolic exhortation is profoundly meaningful.  As government flounders, his words arrived to remind Christians to step into the breach for the poor.

Pope Leo writes, “God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest.”

If the shutdown teaches anything, it is this: the poor cannot wait for political solutions. Catholic social teaching has always recognized that while government can and must play a role in addressing poverty and injustice, it is not sufficient. The Gospel’s command is personal, communal, and enduring. When government falls short, the People of God must rise up.  What better time to remind and recommit ourselves to this call than the season of Advent? 

The Church calls Advent a season of hopeful waiting and preparation. Yet Pope Leo reminds us: hope without action for the poor quickly becomes hollow, even dangerous. If our Advent preparation is only about internal devotion, comfortable ritual, or social gatherings, we miss Christ’s invitation to listen and respond to the cries from the lines at food pantries, anxious faces at shelter doors, and families grasping for dignity.

Pope Leo quotes Pope Francis in reminding that caring for our poor is more than a seasonal responsibility, it is the essence of discipleship.  He warns Christian faithful not to lose sight of this role. “Any church community, if it thinks it can comfortably go its own way without creative concern and effective cooperation in helping the poor to live with dignity and reaching out to everyone, will also risk breaking down... It will easily drift into a spiritual worldliness camouflaged by religious practices, unproductive meetings and empty talk.”  

The Church, whether through localized parish work or the more expansive work of Catholic Charities and other ministries, is uniquely positioned to respond not just with programs, but with authentic human presence. Food pantries, emergency shelter, advocacy, and accompaniment all spring from relationships rooted in a shared sense of dignity, not transactional charity. It is precisely in moments of public failure that our Christian authenticity is tested. 

Dilexi Te reiterates the foundations of Catholic social teaching in reminding us that our love for Christ is proven in how we love and serve those whom society forgets. The government may provide resources, but only faith, hope, and love can offer solidarity and care for the common good. Our homeless, our hungry, and our poor are members of one beloved and necessary body.

This Advent, Pope Leo’s exhortation should echo throughout what we do. It can spark the compassion to move us beyond words to deeds, and real kinship to make our Church a living reflection of a love that refuses to leave anyone behind.