The prayer of the poor rises up to God (cf. Sir 21:5) - this is the verse the Holy Father gives us to reflect on, this 8th World day of the Poor. We know the history of this day - how eight years ago concluding the year of Mercy in 2016 Pope Francis instituted the 33rd Sunday, that is the Sunday prior to the Christ the King Sunday, as dedicated to the poor, as a compassionate solidarity and a prophetic challenge on the part of the universal people of God. Writing to orient us on this day, this year, the holy father has chosen the words of the Philosopher from the Ecclesiasticus - Sirach, and gives us these three terms to fix our attention on: the prayer, the answer and the judgement!
The Poor - is a dense term to understand. They are called the 'anawim' of Yahweh... the helpless who cry out to God. The hungry, the starving, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the voiceless, the deprived, the exploited, the unemployed, the despised, the suffering, the lonely, the homeless, the hopeless, the marginalised, the excluded, the detested... the list goes on. The poor are the apple of the eye of the Lord!
The Prayer of the poor:
Blessed are the poor, the Gospels proclaim. The reason is, because their cry finds the shortest route to the Lord's ears, they rise up to God rapidly, for God is there... right amidst them! The prayer of the afflicted is a judgement pronounced on the world and the world today is so oblivious of it. When the blood of Abel cried out to the Lord, when the cry of the oppressed people in Egypt reached the ears of the Lord, the Lord came down with force on those who were the oppressors! Today the cry of the poor is rising everywhere and the world is incurring a judgement upon itself! Woe to us, if we do not hear that cry. Hearing that cry means, seeing their plight, feeling their pain and suffering their lot. It is in silence that we can listen...they are crying but the world is justifying itself in such loud noise that it refuses to hear the cry. Do not judge! Do not criticise! Do not moralise! Just remain silent, then you shall hear the cry... the groan, the mourn, the sound of the dry tears! Like the Eternal high priest who identifies with us, we are called to identify with everyone who is in pain or suffering today.
The Answer of the Lord:
The Lord answers the cry of the poor, as the Psalmist affirms because, the Lord suffers with the poor and knows their pain. We cannot be like those who stood beneath the cross when Jesus cried out to his Father and said, 'wait lets see if someone will come to help him'! We are called to be the Answer of the Lord - the Lord intends to answer through anyone around the one who cries out! Very listening is an answer, telling the person you are not alone. Understanding is an answer, making the person feel accepted. Solidarity is an answer, strengthening the hope of the person that things are bound to change for the better. Our loving attentiveness to the cries of the poor, is the primary answer from where a new world begins, where humanity is restored, where the Reign of God blossoms. Can we be so insensitive as to throw millions of millions procuring arms and ammunition while millions die of starvation, dump thousands of crores on lifeless statues while thousands die of malnutrition... even spending disproportionate billions building a Church, lakhs on a flag mast or a grotto today, would come under the same insanity! Is this the answer that the Lord intends today? The hour is near, dear friends. Let us not be asleep; let us awaken and act in the name of the Lord.
The judgement on behalf of the Poor:
The verse that we are reflecting on (Sir 21:5) continues to say that the judgement of the Lord comes speedily! Yes, poverty is not just a case; poverty is caused! It is caused by selfishness, pride, greed, injustice, insensitivity, indifference and heartlessness. The poor continuously cry out and we are called to free them from the oppression - if we do not feel that call, we are part of the oppressors! Much before we think of freeing the oppressed, the poor and the suffering from their troubles and struggles, we need to first decide to free them from the judgments we pass on them in our hearts, the insensitive branding that the world imposes on them, the inhuman stance that today's development takes against them. The helpless are powerful, because they have the Lord on their side. Those who are against them have the Lord against them and let us beware! The war is already waging, the first reading tells us today, it is high time we choose, on whose side we are! The Lord's judgements are on behalf of the poor, always.
The Poor... Blessed are we if we are poor... Woe to me, if there are poor because of me! I am close to the Lord if I hear the cry of the poor; I belong to the Lord if I answer those cries; and I belong to the Reign when I resolve to think on behalf of them!
For the prayer of the poor rises to the Lord; and the judgements comes speedily!
