Category Archives: poor

Thoughts on the Sunday readings: "…but all we have" (Eighteenth Sunday – A)

02 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in Christ, discipleship, Giving, Kingdom of God, life, poor

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“…dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”  (Mt. 14:13-21)  It is a reasonable request, even considerate but God’s Kingdom is about more than our sense of propriety.  Christ wants to bring his disciples into a fuller way of viewing situations and living in our world.  “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 
Christ knows that there is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  It is not so much the quantity of giving that matters as it is the quality of giving.  “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  “Bring them here to me,” responds our Lord.  
We look at the violence and pain in our world, maybe even in our own lives, we look at the isolation, the fear and the hatred, we consider our own weaknesses, maybe our own sense of unworthiness and it is easy to say, “But, all we have…”
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
“All I have are some old clothes and some used furniture.”  Well, for a week now I have watched cars and trucks deliver such items to our parish life center to the point where the space now looks like a department store.  I am told that for five hours next Saturday in a chaotic frenzy of shopping thousands will be raised to support ministries within our parish and local community, especially those that will aid the poor.  “All I have is some free time,” but in that little time communion and companionship can be brought to a sick or elderly brother or sister.  “All I have is a desire to live the faith and share the faith.”  Our young people need mentors and teachers; people willing to demonstrate what it looks like to be a Christian in our world today.  We see the violence and injustice in our world, we might even experience it or witness it firsthand; all we might have is the ability to not cooperate in this, walk away, and maybe even speak a word of truth and love.  We see a brother or sister in pain, all we might have is the ability to listen.    
“But all we have…”  “Bring them here to me,” says our Lord.  There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  
For full disclosure I must admit that even though I shared about next Saturday’s parish rummage sale and all the good it does, I am going to be out of town when the chaos occurs.  It is not intentional, although I must admit I am not necessarily heart-broken.  Next weekend I will be in South Bend, Indiana to witness a wedding.  The groom is a friend of mine from the Boston Community of Sant’Egidio.  He is at Notre Dame finishing up his doctoral studies in Scripture.  The bride works at a Christian Community Development Corporation.  The reason I share about them is that in our last discussion they said that, even though they do not have much, they want their wedding and their marriage to be an expression of God’s love in our world.  “All we have is our love and our faith,” they are saying.  “Bring them here to me,” our Lord responds.  Christ will bless what they have to offer and my hunch is that our Lord will bring life to many through the love of Brian and Beth.  
Our Lord invites us to look in a different way at the very real problems and pains of our world and our lives.  It is very easy to look at the immensity of it all and throw up our hands and say, “But all we have…”  Our Lord says, “But you do have something, bring it here to me.”  
There is no one so poor that they cannot give something.  And in giving, life is found.      

Francis: Pope of the Periphery

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Church, Community of Sant'Egidio, periphery, poor, Pope Francis

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Pope Francis is on the cover of “Rolling Stone”.  I guess this is a good thing.  He has certainly caught the imagination of many people.  
For the record, I am a Pope Francis fan – just as I have been a Pope Emeritus Benedict fan and Bl. John Paul II fan – the popes during my lifetime.  I am a fan of the papacy and how each man, weak and limited in his own humanity as he is, brings his own gifts and personality to this institution and it is amazing to see how the Holy Spirit works through each one.  It does no good and, in fact, is a disservice to the Church to fall into a “red state”/”blue state” mentality when it comes to the papacy and the current inhabitant of the office.  The papacy transcends such misguided and ultimately dull attempts at division. 
Recently I was at a church meeting and much was being said about Pope Francis – specifically his simplicity and his call to help the poor.  I agree the Pope Francis has certainly highlighted the poor in his pontificate but I think his challenge goes further and I wonder if this is being picked up on or glossed over and, if so, why?  
Through words and deeds (many of the latter going viral in the visual world of social media), Pope Francis is preaching not just help for the poor but the willingness to go to the poor.  Picture his embrace of the disfigured man in St. Peter’s square.  This, I think, is a key element to his appeal.  Pope Francis is certainly not opposed to the important work of the parish or Church relief and charitable agencies but neither does he want these to become an end or a wall of separation.  I do not think that the Pope would be satisfied if he heard the following statement, “Yes, I support the poor.  I give to my parish and Catholic Charities and they help the poor.”  I think our Pope would respond by saying, “Yes, that is good but you also go to the poor.”  It seems that our current pope does not like any form of “middle-men”; whether they be social, organizational or ecclesial.  
Choices and even success have unintended consequences.  This being understood, might an unintended consequence of the success of the Church’s relief and charitable organizations be that they can help bolster the illusion (maybe even desire) of being a step removed from the poor and needy?   “I can give to the poor yet remain comfortable in my own bubble.”  “Yes, there are poor people but there are people whose work it is to see to their needs.”
I find it helpful to apply a term to the pope that I recently heard Prof. Andrea Riccardi (founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio) use; that term is periphery.  Pope Francis is a pope of the periphery.  This should come as no surprise.  The pope himself made allusion to this when he first walked out on the balcony of St. Peter’s to tell the whole Church that the cardinals of the conclave went to the far corners of the world to find the next bishop of Rome!  They went to the periphery.
Every city, every town, every society has a periphery.  It is where the poor live.  It is where people are marginalized and de-humanized.  It is the place often overlooked and forgotten and also where people fear to go.  Pope Francis is inviting the Church to a gospel awareness that it is just not enough to send money or aid or prayers or good intentions to the periphery.  We must go there ourselves!  Why?  Because Christ is there and wherever Christ is the disciple must follow. 
It has been my experience – limited as it is – that the periphery provides (when encountered consistently and authentically) a spiritual antidote to the stultifying effects of worldviews and ideologies turned in on themselves – which are multitude in our day and age.  The periphery can awaken one to the wonder of the Kingdom of God rather than the merely comfortable!  Again, to paraphrase some insights by Prof. Riccardi, in the periphery we learn that contrary to the dictates of the economy we do not have to substitute competition and rivalry for living together in friendship.  In the periphery we realize that the true history of the world often runs hidden and deep rather than in the illusion of the stages of the rich and powerful.  In the periphery hope can be found, take root and grow.  
The Church must allow herself to be evangelized by the periphery and the poor.  They know the suffering Christ.  
Last night, in the midst of the latest winter storm to hit the eastern U.S., members of the Community of Sant’Egidio in New York City took a warm meal and friendship to their homeless friends on the streets.  These men and women are not spiritual elites, they are not heroes.  They are simply disciples seeking to live their faith honestly and joyfully in friendship.  Wherever Christ is, there is life and wherever Christ is, the disciple must follow.  Pope Francis, as successor to Peter, knows this and he is pointing it out to the whole Church.  Hopefully, we will listen and respond to his invitation to the periphery.                                

"The poor are the priveleged masters of our knowledge of God…": 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

22 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by in humility, knowledge of God, poor

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“The poor are privileged masters of our knowledge of God; their fragility and their simplicity expose our selfishness, our false certainties, our claims of self-sufficiency and guide us to the experience of the closeness and tenderness of God, to receive his love in our life, his mercy of Father who takes care of us, all of us, with discretion and patient trust.”  (Pope Francis) 

It is an intriguing parable that our Lord gives us this Sunday (Lk. 16:1-13).  This dishonest steward is clearly not a child of the Kingdom in his actions but rather a “child of this world” as our Lord indicates.  Our Lord is not holding him up as a role model but rather highlighting his shrewdness as a way of prodding us to reflect on our own salvation.  Are we just as shrewd, are we just as determined about living our discipleship, living in hopes of the Kingdom of God as this steward is about securing a place to land after his fast approaching termination of employment?  The steward knew what was coming so he devoted all of capabilities and all of his faculties to make sure he did not end up either digging ditches or begging! 

Let’s be honest.  How often do we just coast along when it comes to the matters of faith?  It’s enough to go to Church once a week.  It’s enough to say a prayer every now and then.  It’s enough to give a little something to charity.  It’s enough to be a nice person.  “It’s enough…” – the professed creed of a minimal approach to faith!  “I believe” gives way to “It’s enough…” – a common profession in our day.  Christ will not settle for “It’s enough…”  Christ wants belief because only in belief is life and the Kingdom found!  Christ wants us to have “true wealth”!  Not necessarily silver and gold and the good things that this world affords but the true wealth that endures – relationship with God himself and the joy and salvation which can only come from that!   

How might we gain this “true wealth”?  Where might we find it?  The parable points the way.  The steward went to the debtors and dealt generously with them.  He had them cut the amount that they owed the master.  Debtors are those “in debt”.  They owe.  They stand in need.  Generosity toward “debtors” is generosity toward the poor and the needy.  They are the ones who cannot pay and the ones who stand in need.  Generosity toward debtors saves our lives and our future – individually and collectively.    

But someone might say, “It was the master’s wealth to begin with!  The steward never had a claim on it.  How can we give generously of that which we do not ourselves own?”  What one thing do we have that has not been given us by God?  Did we give ourselves life?  Did we give ourselves creation, air to breathe, water to drink?  Did we give ourselves the intelligence to acquire knowledge and gain skill?  Did we give ourselves the lives of our loved ones and our friends that we hold dear?  Can we determine even the length of our own days?  All is gift!  We never had nor ever will have an honest claim on it!  We are all debtors and God’s gratuitousness exceeds all of our limits!  We can give of the master’s wealth because God is generous. 

“The poor are privileged masters of our knowledge of God; their fragility and their simplicity expose our selfishness, our false certainties, our claims of self-sufficiency and guide us to the experience of the closeness and tenderness of God, to receive his love in our life, his mercy of Father who takes care of us, all of us, with discretion and patient trust.”  

Being a Christian is not about being a hero.  Christ was not a superhero nor were the original apostles and disciples nor any of the saints.  God has no need for superheroes.  Being a Christian means learning the honest truth that it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive.  What does this mean?  It means that when we honestly encounter the poor we are “blessed” by coming face-to-face with the truth of who we are and who God is.  We are blessed when the illusion of our selfishness, false certainties and self-sufficiency is held up to the light of reality. 

“The poor are the privileged masters of our knowledge of God…”   

"Be Merciful" – Fifth Sunday of Lent (C)

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in mercy, poor, woman caught in adultery

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Woman Caught in Adultery by John Martin Borg

“…be merciful, the souls of the faithful need your mercy.”  These are the words given by newly elected Pope Francis to a group of confessors at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome the day after he was elected Bishop of Rome.

These words, I believe, catch the heart of our Lord in today’s gospel passage regarding the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).  We often refer to this passage as “the woman caught in adultery” but it could just as easily be titled, “woman being played by the powers-that-be”.  The scribes and the Pharisees have no regard for this woman nor are they really concerned about the integrity of the Law at this point.  The scribes and the Pharisees rush to Jesus full of energy and accusation with this woman in tow in order to catch our Lord in a trap.  The woman is powerless and she is being played by the powers-that-be.  This is often the situation of the poor in our world.  The poor know this game well.

So does our Lord.  Our Lord refuses the energy and the accusation of the narrative of the scribes and the Pharisees and he re-directs it in an almost aikido-like fashion.  Our Lord bends down and he writes on the ground with his finger.  He lets the energy and accusation of the mob pass over him.  Once the energy and accusation of the crowd is spent and has no effect, our Lord responds with a new and surprising energy.  It is an energy rooted in God himself.  It is the energy of mercy.

Once again, our Lord is giving us an instruction in mercy.  In last Sunday’s gospel (Lk. 15:1-3,11-32) our Lord answers the accusation of the scribes and Pharisees not by pointing to his own righteousness but by pointing to the mercy of the Father.  This Sunday, our Lord answers the accusation of the powers-that-be by speaking truth and sharing mercy.  Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.  None of us are without sin.  Christ alone is without sin but instead of accusation he offers mercy.

In this Sunday’s first reading (Isaiah 43:16-21) we are told that our Lord opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters.  In and through the gospel, Jesus overcomes the strength of accusation and abuse of power that can often inflame and harden the human heart and he opens a new way – the way of mercy and reconciliation!  Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!  Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.  

On Tuesday, newly-elected Pope Francis will be installed as Bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter.  Much is being made of his humility and simplicity.  Pope Francis knows the lesson of mercy because he is a friend of the poor.  When we become friends with the poor we learn their story and we learn the lessons that only they can teach.  Christ is with the poor in a unique way.  Friendship with the poor is friendship with Christ.  There is no true new evangelization without friendship with the poor.

In a special way this Sunday we pray for newly-elected Pope Francis, may he in his unique role as successor to St. Peter, help all the Church learn the lessons of mercy and walk together in the ever-newness of the Gospel!