Holy Mass for Farmers (14 May 1982)

On Friday, 14 May 1982, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass at Vila Vicosa. In his homily, the Pope highlighted the centrality of agriculture. "In our times of accentuated economic and social tensions, the unilateral vision of progress prevails, mainly aimed at industrialization. But it is also comforting to see that the need to restore agriculture to its rightful place in the development of every nation and international progress is being highlighted."

Beloved brother, Monsignor Maurilio de Gouveia, Archbishop of Évora,
beloved brothers in the Episcopate,
most excellent Authorities,
dear brothers and sisters present and
dear farmers and workers of these Portuguese lands.

1. “You also go to my vineyard and you will receive a just wage” ( Mt 20.4).

In this and other Gospel passages, Jesus expresses himself through parables, the content of which is taken from the world around him. In them the Divine Master refers, many times, to the work of the fields.

This is what happens in the text of today's celebration of the Word, with the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Christ, through examples taken from the created world and facts known to his listeners, introduces them to the supersensible and indivisible reality of the Kingdom of God. In truth, this was how he made men understand his spiritual kingdom.

The man who works honestly, as a free and intelligent being, continues the work of creation, realizing communion with God; becoming a participant in the Redemption until arriving at gradual and full participation in divine Life. It is in this perspective that we will meditate on the parable, dear children of Portugal and especially of the regions of Ribatejo, Alentejo and Algarve, and also with you, dear nomads and pilgrims who have come from other Portuguese lands or from neighboring Spain. I thank the Archbishop of Évora for his lovely words of greeting and, equally, the young worker who expressed the feelings of his companions.

I also greet you and I want to say to all of you who live in the hard work of cultivating the land: my presence here, and also that of the Archbishop of Évora and other Bishops of Portugal and Spain, is a concrete sign that the Church understands and recognizes your legitimate aspirations for justice, progress and peace in the commitment of your profession. The Church, the Pope, the Bishops of Portugal are with you to help you overcome misunderstandings and injustices, to lend a hand to the poorest and most disadvantaged, within the sphere of its mission, so that everyone can progress and participate with serenity in high human values and Christians of dignified and productive work. Here, in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Vicosa, under the gaze of the "Queen" of Portugal, crowned by Dom João Quarto, we make our reflection, asking the Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth and love, to enlighten us and assist.

2. The parable of the workers in the vineyard, which has just been read, includes two important truths of a supernatural nature. The first is that the justice of the Kingdom of God is also achieved through the work of man, through "his work in the vineyard of the Lord". Everyone is invited by him, to "build" the world in the various ways, moments and aspects of human and terrestrial life. The second truth is that the gift of the Kingdom of God, offered to humanity, stands above any and all measures that men usually use to evaluate the relationship between work and wages. This gift transcends man.

Being supernatural, it cannot be measured by purely human criteria.

The evangelical text of the workers in the vineyard and the others of today's celebration invite us to reflect on the work of man, especially on the work of the land, in the perspective of the order and justice that should reign in society.

The Church, as you well know, has paid much attention to these problems of the so-called "Social Question", especially in the last century. Although his primordial attention went to industry and industrial work, the work of the man who cultivates the land has also constituted an explicit and important part of the teaching of the Church, since the time of the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII. Thus Pius of proletarians, if appropriate and effective remedies are not used" (Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno , III, 59).

But above all it was Pope John XXIII, descendant of a country family, who paid special attention to the problems of agricultural life, claiming the place it deserves for agriculture. In Mater et Magistra he recommends not only overcoming the existing imbalance between the various sectors of each country, but also deals with the problem from a global perspective, highlighting the need for new balances and solidarity cooperation of rich and predominantly industrialized countries with the poor, developing and lagging agricultural economies.

In our times of accentuated economic and social tensions, the unilateral vision of progress prevails, mainly aimed at industrialization. But it is also comforting to see that the need to restore agriculture to its rightful place in the development of every nation and international progress is being highlighted. Just recently your Bishops, in the light of the encyclical Laborem Exercens , showed the need to "decisively attack the chronic infirmities of agriculture in Portugal, in the line of recognition of the dignity and rights of men, women and families in the fields ”. They observed very well "that it is not enough to proclaim rights", but it is urgent "to create the economic, social and cultural conditions, so that it is possible to satisfy these rights, and so farmers, especially young people, feel truly encouraged to attach themselves to the land and agricultural work". It is a challenge for everyone and to which "rural workers themselves cannot fail to respond, opening up to new forms of association and cooperation among themselves and to appropriate initiatives for the modernization of techniques and culture".

3. For our vision of the problems of field work to be what it should be, we must focus our thoughts - in continuity with the tradition of the social doctrine of the Church - on the dignity and position of man in this world. In truth, it is man who carries out the work and it is because of men that all human work must be founded in justice, inspired and enhanced by real and effective love for others.

Through Psalm 8, recited just now, we can understand what Man is in the thought of God and in the order of creation. In the presence of the Lord, the Psalmist asks himself this question: "What is man?". In a certain way, the question is asked of God himself: “When I contemplate the heavens, the work of your hands, / the moon and the stars that you have set, / what is man, that you remember him, / the son of man, why do you care?” ( Ps 8,4f).

These words speak of the smallness of man, in comparison with the great works of creation.

At the same time they proclaim his incomparable dignity. In fact, despite man's smallness, God "remembers him and cares for him". Human dignity excels even more with the phrases that the psalmist adds: "You have given him dominion over the works of your hands, / you have put everything under his feet" ( Ps 8,7).

In the encyclical Laborem Exercens I wanted to exalt the pre-eminent figure of the "working man".

This is the “essential key” to the interpretation and solution of social problems. With the word "Work" I indicate all human activity, starting from the most modest and humble execution, up to the highest. The general criteria or principles set out in that encyclical must also be applied to working the land, in which I dedicate some pages "to the dignity of agricultural work" (John Paul II, Laborem Exercens , 21).

4. Dear rural workers, men and women, young and old: The Lord of the vineyard also addresses you in the Gospel with the invitation: "You too go to my vineyard and I will give you the right wage". Although concise, this sentence leads us to the study of various problems, the solution of which can only be obtained through the application of the fundamental ethical principles, of universal value, on which the real progress of society is based. By applying them, it is necessary to give importance to particular situations, to the different ways and degrees of development of each human area. In a word, it is necessary to look at the demands of justice and attribute moral primacy to what derives from the total truth about man.

The contemporary world, despite enormous scientific and technological progress, lives under the terror of a great catastrophe, which could reverse its great successes if war prevails over peace. For this reason, expenditure on armaments should be reduced, to guarantee all countries a minimum of conditions necessary for global development, especially as regards the agricultural and food sector. The state of absolute poverty of certain human groups in many countries with backward economies offends the dignity of millions of people forced to live in conditions of degrading poverty. It is therefore urgent to give field workers the opportunity to concretely realize fundamental human rights.

5. In the first biblical reading, taken from the book of Amos, we talk about building from the ruins, that is, "reconstruction". If it is difficult to build, it costs even more, after certain phases of decline, to encounter new forms of balance and renewal, to overcome antiquated concepts or processes and produce more and better.

Within a national development strategy, adapted to the concrete conditions of capacity and culture, the harmonious and progressive development of agriculture needs to be framed in a global program of the different sectors of the national economy, which takes into consideration human objectives fundamentals; that is, not just the actual increase in production, but also a fair distribution of the product of labor. With this framework in a global program, care must be taken to guarantee the existence of adequate infrastructures, appropriate credit conditions, modern and sufficient means of transport and work, with the respective internal and external trade of agricultural products, within of a creative spirit and healthy competition.

6. “I will give you what is right,” says the master of the evangelical parable. They are words of capital importance, because they refer to the serious problem of fair wages and the human rights and dignity of the field worker (John Paul II, Laborem Exercens , 16-23). At this point it is necessary to recognize the privileged place of those who work the land, whether they are owner farmers or simple non-owner workers. Large companies must use the land, making it produce more and more, with the appropriate participation of workers, and subordinating their own performance and utility to the right to a fair wage of those who contribute to production, without losing sight of the social function of the property.

For this reason, the joint initiatives and actions of large associations of farmers and workers are to be appreciated, without neglecting the economic value of agricultural enterprises of smaller groups, families and even individuals, with the possibility of advantageous exploitation of the property. It would be great if farmers could work on their own land, creating truly functional agricultural enterprises.

7. Dear farmers and rural workers; with a spirit of collaboration, you must be the architects of the progress of agriculture, as an important element of the economic and social development of your homeland. Try, therefore, to develop a spirit of initiative by promoting the inclusion of qualified young people in agricultural businesses. Allow me to remind you: the principles expressed in Laborem Exercens about the working man, in particular the field worker, also apply to the woman who works the land.

However, as you well know, the desired agricultural progress cannot occur without sufficient education and professional training, which follows the modernization of the methods and means of agricultural activity.

For this reason we cannot fail to recommend the effort of those in Portugal who are working in this direction.

However, your Bishops remember, in the aforementioned document, that "agrarian reform cannot be an instrumental way to obtain partisan interests, because it affects the lives of agricultural workers in such a dimension and depth that it is criminal to make it a partisan instrument . The agrarian reform must be the reform of agriculture in Portugal, in the sense of personalizing agricultural work. It is important to point out, at this point, the duty that everyone implements with methods that respect the freedom, autonomy and responsible participation of farmers and all citizens, in the promotion of social justice".

8. Let us return, dear field workers, once again to the evangelical parable. It teaches us that man not only lives in the world, in society, in a state or nation, but is also called, at the same time, to the Kingdom of God, of which the image of the vineyard speaks. Human work on the earth (and for the earth) and the construction of the Kingdom of God meet and unite with each other. The Kingdom of God cannot be evaluated by the dimensions of social and earthly order. Its edification occurs not only through merit, but also through grace, and above all through grace, which makes every and every merit possible. As the fruit of grace and merit, the Kingdom of God is not a reward corresponding to merit, as would be the salary for work performed, but it is, first of all, a supernatural gift: a Gift that is above all merit.

All of us are citizens of the heavenly homeland. Our work is of extraordinary importance for the pursuit of the common good. But we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God, which is not of this world and which comes to us as a divine gift and as a Christian vocation.

The Lord invites us to respond to this vocation and to join him, through the prayer that signifies our work as Christians. “Ora et labora” – pray and work – is an ancient principle given by Saint Benedict to his monks. Combining work with prayer and making work prayer will give you courage, perseverance and serenity to overcome difficulties and misunderstandings, it will make your work more joyful, with the best effects on your being Christian, in the construction of a better and happier society.

I like to recall here the traditional and Christian figure of the rural worker of these Portuguese lands, who, from what they told me, to the sound of the Ave-Mary or the "Trinity" and, already at home, to the sound of the "Souls" , in the bell tower of the Churches, suspends, for a moment, his activity to raise his thoughts to the High, praying to God, giver of all goods.

9. “O Lord our God, how great is your name in all the earth”! Here, in this Sanctuary of the Immaculate Virgin, today the Bishop of Rome, and successor of Saint Peter, raises his hands, his thoughts and his heart to you, together with all the sons and daughters of the Portuguese Nation in union above all with those who cultivate the earth with the work of their hands and the sweat of their faces. In unison with them, O Father of goodness and Lord of all the universe, I beg your blessing on their hard work. Bless, Lord, their fields and their labors! May your blessing descend abundantly on their families and on all their communities! Bless, Lord, their homeland, Portugal!

Creator of the Universe, the bread and wine that we offer every day in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the fruit of the work of these people, so that they are transformed into the Body and Blood of your Son Jesus Christ. It is a job that is needed for the Eucharist!

May these lands, all the fields of Portugal, from Minho to Tràs-os Montes to the Algarve, always be favored by abundant harvests. May the grace of your Kingdom flood the hearts of all its inhabitants!

In your Kingdom of justice, peace and love, grant, Lord, the eternal reward to all of them. You are this prize, at the same time the sacred bond to unite them in love and peace, which will never end.
 

Copyright © Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana