Sei sulla pagina 1di 28

If one of your brothers or one of your

sisters is in need of clothes and has not


enough food to live on, and one of you
says to them: I wish you well, keep
your self warm and eat plenty, without
giving them these bare necessities of
life, then what good is that? In the
same way faith: if good deeds do not go
with it, it is dead.
James 2: 15-17

From the Latin paupentas, literally translates as


pauper, poor
Associated

with the lack of means to


provide for material needs or comforts

Poverty of the soul present in people


with lack of purpose in life, a sense of
hopelessness about any lasting meaning

Human beings live not on bread alone


but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God (Mt. 5:3)

Poverty of the Spirit


Recognizes

that we totally depend on God. It


affirms that God alone is our savior, the sole
source of all good gifts
This spiritual poverty moves us to share our
blessings with the truly poor
How

blessed are the poor in spirit, the


kingdom of heaven is theirs
Mt. 5:3

Material poverty
Means

lack of sufficient material


means to meet basic human needs

This

type of poverty is scandalous.


It manifests itself in the lack of the
necessary means for survival

80% of the worlds population live in


developing nations which only use
20% of the worlds health
In the next 24 hours, over 40,000
children will die of starvation or
diseases related to malnutrition
Although UN says the world produces
enough food to feed everyone, over
1 billion people are chronically
hungry

Women in developing countries live


an average of 17 years less than the
women in industrialized countries
Poverty is the main cause of hunger.
UNICEF reports that over 3 billion
people lives on less that 2$ per day
One out of three children in
developing countries suffers from
under nutrition

From the Scriptures and Church


Teaching, we learn that the justice
of a society is tested by the
treatment of the poor
Sacred Scriptures reveals that God
is compassionately concerned for
the welfare of the poor, that God
has a preferential option for the
poor

The Bible names those who are poor:

The materially impoverished,


members of lower class
The afflicted and the powerless
The hungry, the unclothed, the
homeless, prisoners
Orphans
Lepers whom society feared and
isolated

Sinners like the women caught in


adultery
Strangers and outsiders
Widows who have no social status
Outcast tax collectors

Treatment of the Poor in the Old Testament


The

Lands were not to be farmed, debts forgiven, and


slaves were to be let go

The

Sabbatical Year
Jubilee Year

People return to their proper place in the


community

The Prophets warned the people, to get


back to justice

Treatment of the Poor in the New Testament


Incarnation

is the great proof of Gods love for


humanity and His great love and compassion for the
poor
Who, being in the form of God, did not count
equality with God something to be grasped. But He
emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave,
becoming as human beings are; and being in every
way
like a human being, he was humbler yet,
even
accepting death, death on the cross
(Phil 2: 6-8)

Treatment of the Poor in the New Testament


Jesus became lowly and lived a life of
poverty
Jesus associated with the poor and the
outcast, and responded to their needs
Jesus parables and teachings reveal his
attitude toward the poor and lowly
Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 7:11-17)
Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk. 16:19-31)
The Rich Young Man

Jesus tells us to have our priorities straight:

Sell your possessions and give to those in


need. Get yourselves purses that dont
wear out, treasure that will not fail you,
in heaven where no thief can reach it and
no moth destroy it, For where your
treasure is, that is where your heart will
be too (Lk. 12:33-34)

He warns us:

No one can be a slave of two


masters: he will either hate the first and
love the second, or be attached to the
first and despise the second: You cannot
be the slave of both God and of money
(Mt. 6:24)

We must control money, not money


controlling us:
Watch out and be on guard against
avarice of any kind, for life does not
consist in possessions, even when someone
has more than he needs (Lk. 12:15)

The standard on how we must treat


the poor:
Treat others as you would like them to treat you
(Mt. 7:12)

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 the
captives, and recovery of sight to the
blind, to let the oppressed go
free,
And to proclaim a year acceptable to the
Lord.
(Lk. 4: 18-19)

The most basic right of each human being


is the right to life

Denying people the right to food is a


fundamental injustice of the highest order
Feed the man dying of hunger, because if
you have
not fed him, you have
killed him (GS no.69)

Worldwide millions are hungry and


malnourished.
Chronic hunger includes both starvation and
malnourishment
About 700 million in developing countries
20% of their population still do not have access
to enough food to meet their basic daily needs
for nutritional well-being (United Nations
reports, no.7)

The injustice of hunger is that the world is


not lacking in any way in food resources.

In the world as a whole, an average of 2,700


calories is available per person per day,
enough to meet everyones energy
requirements. But food is neither produced
nor distributed equally. Some countries
produce more food than others, while
distribution systems and family incomes
determine access to food (UNs report, 1996)

Various forms of corruption


contribute to poverty
Unfair and high interest on foreign
loans
Demography shows that as a nation
becomes richer, higher birth and
death rates are reversed

Everyone must respect the social teaching of


the universal and common destination of
the goods of the earth
We must apply the principle of subsidiarity
so power is not taken from those who rightly
possess it
We must practice the principle of solidarity
WE must actively participate in the Eucharist

First, it means that we cannot love


immoderately, or selfishly use, riches and
wealth

Not to enable the poor to share in our


goods is to steal from them, and
deprive them of life. The goods we
possess are not ours, but theirs (St.
John Chrysostom, CCC 2446)

Second, we must put into practice the


spiritual and corporal works of mercy by
which we come to the aid of our neighbor

1.

2.
3.

4.
5.

We must speak for those who have no one to


speak for them. We must defend the
defenseless
We must look at things from the side of the
poor and powerless
We must evaluate lifestyle, policies, and social
institutions in terms of how they affect the
poor
We must help people experience Gods saving
love and liberating power
We must empty ourselves so Gods power can
touch us in the midst of poverty and
powerlessness

Those who are well off must change their


attitudes to the poor
We must support full and equal
employment as well as a just wage
Society must empower the poor to help
themselves
We must make education of the poor out
top priority
The tax system must be evaluated based
on how it affects the poor

O God,
To those who have hunger,
Give bread;
And to those who have bread
Give the hunger for justice

Potrebbero piacerti anche