“The prayer of the poor rises up to God” (Sir 25:5)
What does it mean to be celebrating today the World Day of the Poor? What does it mean when Pope Francis writes in his message for this day in 2024 that, “Christian hope embraces the certainty that our prayer reaches God’s presence; not just any prayer but rather the prayer of the poor!” Is God listening only to a few? Are your prayers going unheard because you have resources?
Francis, Bishop of Rome, provides a salutary and hopeful response, “No one is excluded from (God’s) heart, for in his eyes, we are all poor and needy. We are all beggars because, without God, we would be nothing. We would not even have life if God had not given it to us. Yet how often we live as if we were the masters of life or as if we had to conquer it!”
Does this mean that there is no differentiation in our poverty? Surely, that would be a sameness which would be to the detriment of those who are living in poverty brought about by realities such as economic policies and models, by the tragedy of war and by climatic impacts which have become so destructive in the passing of years.
Pope Francis invites us, “to make the prayer of the poor our own and pray together with them.” We are called to a true solidarity with the poor, and to a recognition that in their relationship with God, the poor offer example and inspiration, while providing others with the gift of service; “The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God, and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith.”
Our conscious awareness of our own poverty, in whichever aspects of our living this resides, gifts us with humility, openness to others, and trust in God. As St Teresa of Calcutta said when addressing the United Nations; “I am only a poor sister who prays. By praying, Jesus puts his love in my heart, and I go to give it to all the poor I meet along the way. Pray too! Pray, and you will notice the poor who are beside you. Perhaps on the same floor in your apartment building. Perhaps even in your houses, someone is waiting for your love. Pray, and your eyes will open, and your heart will fill with love”.
In the year ahead the virtue of Hope will become central to our lives as disciples. As we pray for the poor this day, may we all hope in the one before whom we are all beggars, and all beloved daughters and sons.
With prayers,
patrick
