From the balcony

T he white figure of the Pope looking out from the balcony of the Gemelli Polyclinic brought back to mind in many of us another Pope, Saint John Paul II. The voice, not particularly bright and the face somewhat tense, reminded us that these past few days were demanding for Pope Francis. But that balcony of the Gemelli Polyclinic became an incandescent Ambo in a few moments. Indeed, the Pope followed the gratitude for the care he received, with a cry for justice for all those who instead do not have the opportunity to access free medical care. Once again the Pontiff wished to shift his gaze to the invisible, to those who society no longer sees, the least ones. Jesus too, in the din of the Temple and in the coming and going of the people, had the gaze to notice a poor widow who, with immense discretion, gave all that she had to live on ...