(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday – the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and the first-ever World Day of the Poor – in St. Peter’s Basilica.

There were some 4 thousand needy people in the congregation for the Mass, after which Pope Francis offered Sunday lunch in the Paul VI Hall.

Speaking off the cuff to guests at the luncheon, the Holy Father said, "We pray that the Lord bless us, bless this meal, bless those who have prepared it, bless us all, bless our hearts, our families, our desires, our lives and give us health and strength." The Holy Father went on to ask God's blessing on all those eating and serving in soup kitchens throughout the city. "Rome," he said, "is full of this [charity and good will] today."

In the homily he prepared for the occasion and delivered in St. Peter's Basilica following the Gospel reading, Pope Francis said, "In the poor, Jesus knocks on the doors of our heart, thirsting for our love." He went on to say, "When we overcome our indifference and, in the name of Jesus, we give of ourselves for the least of his brethren, we are his good and faithful friends, with whom he loves to dwell."

Reminding the faithful that it is precisely in the poor, we find the presence of Jesus, who, though rich, became poor (cf. 2 Cor 8:9), and that there is therefore in each and every poor person, a "saving power" present, Pope Francis said, "[I]f in the eyes of the world they have little value, they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven."

"For us," the Pope continued, "it is an evangelical duty to care for them, as our real riches, and to do so not only by giving them bread, but also by breaking with them the bread of God's word, which is addressed first to them.

"To love the poor," Pope Francis said, "means to combat all forms of poverty, spiritual and material: and it will also do us good. Drawing near to the poor in our midst will touch our lives. It will remind us of what really counts: to love God and our neighbour. Only this lasts forever, everything else passes away."