Prayer and Action

75. Let everyone implore God the Father Almighty that the human race, which is certainly aware of these evils, will bend every effort of mind and spirit to their eradication. To this prayer should be added the resolute commitment of every individual. Each should do as much as he can, as best he can, to counteract the slow pace of progress in some nations. And it is to be hoped that individuals, social organizations and nations will join hands in brotherly fashion—the strong aiding the weak—all contributing their knowledge, their enthusiasm and their love to the task, without thinking of their own convenience.

It is the person who is motivated by genuine love, more than anyone else, who pits his intelligence against the problems of poverty, trying to uncover the causes and looking for effective ways of combatting and overcoming them. As a promoter of peace, "he goes on his way, holding aloft the torch of joy and shedding light and grace on the hearts of men all over the world; he helps them to cross the barriers of geographical frontiers, to acknowledge every man as a friend and brother." ⁶³