Pope Francis urged the faithful Wednesday to recognise God in the poor, disabled and refugees.
Speaking at his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square, Francis encouraged believers to open their eyes and hearts to God's love for the poor and to the gift of healing that he offers to all who turn to him in faith.
The pope reflected on Jesus' miracle of restoring sight to a blind man on the way to Jericho as recounted in the Gospel of Luke.
He said that the blind man was sitting on the roadside begging and pointed out that, until not long ago, a person with disability had no choice but to live on charity.
"That blind man, Francis said, represents the many people who, even today, are marginalized because of a disadvantage," be it physical or of other kind.
Francis warned against the "temptation" that "we all feel" of feeling discomfort towards refugees, the needy and the disabled.
Indifference to the needy, he said, "makes us deaf and at times violent".
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