EVANGELII GAUDIUM - page 157

157
the saving power at work in their lives and to put
them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way.
We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our
voice to their causes, but also to be their friends,
to listen to them, to speak for them and to em-
brace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes
to share with us through them.
199. Our commitment does not consist exclu-
sively in activities or programmes of promotion
and assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is
not an unruly activism, but above all an atten-
tiveness which considers the other “in a certain
sense as one with ourselves”.
166
This loving at-
tentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for
their person which inspires me effectively to seek
their good. This entails appreciating the poor in
their goodness, in their experience of life, in their
culture, and in their ways of living the faith. True
love is always contemplative, and permits us to
serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but
rather because he or she is beautiful above and
beyond mere appearances: “The love by which
we find the other pleasing leads us to offer him
something freely”.
167
The poor person, when
loved, “is esteemed as of great value”,
168
and this
is what makes the authentic option for the poor
differ from any other ideology, from any attempt
to exploit the poor for one’s own personal or
166
 S
aint
T
homas
A
quinas
,
S. Th.,
II-II, q. 27, a. 2.
167
 Ibid.,
I-II, q. 110, a. 1.
168
 Ibid., I-II, q. 26, a. 3.
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