Manila, Philippines, Jan 18, 2015 / 00:01 am
Everyone who helps the poor should consider whether they know how to ask for help in areas where they themselves are poor, Pope Francis suggested to a young engineer who helped Typhoon Haiyan victims.
"Do you feel self-sufficient, and only offer something and think you have no need of anything? Do you know that you, too, are poor? Do you know the need to receive? Do you let yourselves be evangelized by the ones you serve?" Pope Francis asked at a Jan. 18 youth rally on the University of Santo Tomas campus in Manila.
Rikki Macolor, a recent engineering graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines, recounted to Pope Francis his experience when Typhoon Haiyan struck over a year ago.
Although not in the path of the storm, Macolor and his colleagues boarded a plane to be part of the relief efforts shortly after the storm was over.