Words and concepts like hospitality, care, welcome, and attention are familiar to us.  I would like to refer to this last word, which Pope Leo XIV alluded to in his homily on Sunday, November 16, 2025, with the expression ”  culture of care.  ” He said: “How many forms of poverty oppress our world! First and foremost, there is material poverty, but there are also many moral and spiritual situations, which often affect young people most of all. And the tragedy that runs through them all is loneliness. It challenges us to look at poverty in its entirety, because certainly sometimes it is necessary to respond to urgent needs, but in general, what we must develop is a culture of care, precisely to break down the wall of loneliness.” Moral and spiritual poverty, whose core is loneliness. A spirit hungry for human contact that shelters and accompanies the soul thirsting for warmth, welcome, and a listening ear. A culture of care in a twofold dimension: observing and caring diligently.

Attention as a gaze focused on the other. Martin Buber referred to this reality of interpersonal relationships as a movement of the person oriented toward the other. It is not so much a search, but rather an encounter with the face and gaze of the “you” with whom I am in a relationship. This attitude begins with detachment from the self or from what is mine, to concentrate on attentively listening to the other, to understand them in their being and appearance. This attention entails a respectful, modest gaze, for it does not seek to turn the other into an “object” of knowledge, reduced to a set of facts and clichés. Rather, it is a contemplative, welcoming gaze, capable of opening the doors of the soul, so that, in this attentive relationship, the reasons and feelings of the heart are communicated to each other.

In these times of ours, where haste has become a way of life, the Holy Father points out that “the danger of living like distracted travelers, inattentive to our final destination and indifferent to those who share the journey with us, is always lurking around the corner.” We can fall into the trap described by Julio Iglesias back in the 80s: “From running through life without brakes/ I forgot that life is lived one moment at a time/ From wanting to be first in everything/ I forgot to live/ The small details.” So often, the desire for achievement can overwhelm us, to the point of ignoring the needs of our neighbor, not just those in the farthest corner of the world, but even those who share the journey with us: family, coworkers, friends, our community. A culture of attentiveness helps us to pause and cultivate wonder and patience.

The culture of care, as we were saying, has a second dimension:  diligent care. We move from the heart that sees the real needs of our neighbor to the hands that do good to those in need. “That is why,” the Roman Pontiff continues, “we want to be attentive to others, to every person, wherever we are, wherever we live, transmitting this attitude from within the family, to live it concretely in workplaces and schools, in various communities, in the digital world, everywhere, pushing ourselves to the margins and becoming witnesses of God’s tenderness.” An attentive gaze, placed first and foremost, on those to whom I owe my allegiance. The family unit immediately comes to mind: parents, spouse, children… Family obligations, as the tax laws would say. They are much more than a burden; they are—usually—the very reason for life. They are often our loves, and when things get tough, saying “for them” lessens the difficulty.

In particular, we are concerned with children, the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable. These are people who require care, gentleness, and patience. We know that hardship and loneliness are not lacking in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, and in society. Left to our own devices, the goal of attentive, meticulous care is beyond our capabilities. A Christian culture complements good human intentions, providing the necessary fertile ground to enlarge our hearts and sustain a culture of care that bears fruit in action.