Deuteronomy 15:11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Matthew 26:10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them"... 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
These two passages of scripture, one in the old testament and one in the New, teach us beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the efforts to eradicate poverty worldwide, as suggested by the current pontiff, is both unscriptural and futile, for according to the above verses, and others written in the last book of the Bible, poverty will continue to exist once there is a devil and sinners, who are by nature selfish.
The suggestion itself, if adopted by the united nations of earth, will send them on a wild goose chase that will inevitably end up in never land, for the very idea is contrary to what The God of heaven clearly states concerning the poor, and is also confirmed by the prophet John in the following verse. Let's read:
Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.
Now, this is not to say that the less fortunate should not be taken care of, for The Lord has made provision in His word that we should share our bounties with those who are in need. And one of the reasons why the poor will never cease out of the land, is because, if that were to occur, then the springs of benevolence in us, may dry up, not having active exercise in bringing relief to those in dire straits. Furthermore, the method instituted by God, when adopted, will leave room enough and to spare, for all those who cannot help themselves to a better life, but this is not to suggest in any way, that global poverty can ever be eliminated. Let's read:
Leviticus 19:9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. 10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 15:7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
One of the side effects of an unscriptural support of the poor, is that in some cases, it causes some people to refrain from making contributions to society or to the church, and in other instances, some folk just give up on trying to help themselves. It is worthy of note, that after addressing the needs of the poor, and making ample provision for them, that The Lord then ordained that they be required to contribute to the sanctuary services, for the habit of giving must be developed in rich and poor alike, since both categories often suffer from the same inherent problem of selfishness. Let's read:
Exodus 30:14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord"....
Luke 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
Christ could have excused this poor woman from giving, if He wanted to, but to do so would prevent her from exercising the desire to give, and even though it was all that she had, yet Jesus did no relieve her of the responsibility of returning to The Lord's treasury His due. It's important for us to understand that the papacy is a system that is based on outward works of the law, while the inner thoughts and affections may be far from Christ and His truth. Hence the reason why the statement made by pope Francis concerning the "Good works" of the gay and lesbian community, says in essence that they are accepted of the Lord.
Now while it is true that we cannot judge the actions and motives of others, yet the Bible says that offerings, benevolence, good deeds, and charities will not atone for a willing obedience to His word, and thus, the more important issues which we need to address in America, is not the outward works of piety, which may be done for show while the heart is in rebellion, but rather the wanton disregard of the institutions and laws of God, since these violations are what drive us into both spiritual and temporal poverty alike.
Let us therefore not be carried away by smooth sounding suggestions, but let us rather seek to follow the guidelines for godly living as given in the Bible, on a consistent basis, from a sincere heart overflowing with love to God and our fellowmen. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to do so, and if we ask God to enable us each day, He will guide our feet in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. Let's read:
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!