Meeting call to serve poor

By Br. Steve Herro, O.Praem.

	An Advent series on Catholic Social Teaching

Here are some resources for further study and reflection on "The Option for the Poor":

Quotes from scripture

• "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7).

• "'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.' He said to them, 'Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Lk 4:18-19,21).

	A d v e n t
	• Other Everyday People, Everyday Faith articles
	• Other Advent articles

• "Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'" (Mt 25:34-36)

• "My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, 'Sit here, please,' while you say to the poor one, 'Stand there,' or 'Sit at my feet,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?" (Jas 2:1-5)

Church documents and quotes

• "Concern for the Poor: a Catholic Virtue?," Fr. Drew Christiansen, SJ, Origins, 36:7, June 29, 2006, pp. 109-111.

• "Economic Justice for All," U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1986 (see www.osjspm.org/economic_justice_for_all.aspx).

• "A Place at the Table: A Catholic Recommitment to Overcome Poverty and to Respect the Dignity of All God's Children," U.S. Catholic Bishops, 2002 (see www.usccb.org/bishops/table.shtml)

• "Poverty as a Spiritual Challenge: Do Catholics Know the Face of the Poor?," Bp. Ricardo Ramirez of the Diocese of Las Cruces, N.M., 2001 (www.dioceseoflascruces.org/bishop/html/sp_03.html).

Prayer "Go Forth" O God, you are the defender of the poor And the stronghold of the orphaned and the widowed. When your people were robbed of their homes and put in chains, You did not abandon them but made of them a special people. From the remnants of their lives you fashioned them into a garment of joy. In the fullness of time, you sent Christ who announced the good news of salvation to the poor, the day of liberty for those in need. In these days, the nightmare of poverty haunts our world and enters our homes. Standing in lines, deprived of human dignity, the poor of our world beg for love and ask for food and work. Shine your spirit of courage and compassion upon us. Warm the cold of our hearts and wills. Help us to love your beloved poor. Help us to see that in loving and tending their needs We are tending the presence of Christ among us. We ask this through Christ and the Holy Spirit, With you, One God, forever and ever. Amen. (from Act Justly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly: Prayers for Peace and Justice, Edward Gabriel, Winona, Minn: St. Mary's Press, 1995, p. 30)

• "A consistent theme of Catholic social teaching is the option or love of preference for the poor. Today, this preference has to be expressed in worldwide dimensions, embracing the immense numbers of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care, and those without hope" (Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern, 1987, #42).

• "The joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the women and men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way oppressed, these are the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the followers of Jesus" (The Church in the Modern World, #1).

Movies and books

• Ending Poverty as We Know It: Guaranteeing a Right to a Job at a Living Wage, by William Quigley.

• Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (available in diocesan AV Center; call (920)272-8276 / 877-500-3580, ext. 8276)

• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.

• Milagro Beanfield War.

• Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich.

• Romero (available in diocesan AV Center; call (920)272-8276 / 877-500-3580, ext. 8276)

Websites

• Archdiocese of Seattle: Catholic Social Teaching Principles, www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/CatholicFaithFormation/SocTeaching/SocTeachDec.

• Catholic Campaign for Human Development, www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/index.htm.

• Catholic Charities USA, www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.

• "Faithful Citizenship: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable," Catholic Charities Central Texas, www.ccctx.org/fc_cst_poor.php.

Questions for discussion and action

1.What events of Jesus' life support the Christian belief that persons living in poverty have a special place?

2. How does the principle of a preferential option for and with the poor fit with the American ideal of fairness and equal opportunity?

3. How does it feel to be poor in the United States? If you don't know, how would you find out what life is like for a poor child or adult in the United States?

(Source: Principles, Prophecy, and a Pastoral Response: An Overview of Modern Catholic Social Teaching, Revised Edition, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, 2001.)

(Br. Herro is the social concerns consultant for the Green Bay Diocese.)