“The Preferential Option for the
Poor” – Homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2022
Our First
reading today from Sirach almost exactly spells out the Catholic Church’s
teaching on the preferential option for the poor.
In that
first reading, Sirach says “Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet the
Lord hears the cry of the oppressed.”
When the
Church speaks about the need for each of us to have a preferential option for
the poor, it says “the preferential option for the poor…must embrace the
immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without health
care and, above all, those without hope of a better future” (St. John Paul II
as found in the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”)
As
Catholics, we also need to be working directly with the poor in our
community. There are all different types
of poverty, not just monetary, but also spiritual poverty, and poverty of
relationships. What are we doing
ourselves to encounter the poor face to face in an attempt to show them the
love of Christ?
As
Catholics, we might be tempted to say that the poor in our community are taken
care of by the government, but the Catholic Church teaches that “The principle
of subsidiarity, (which is caring for the poor locally) is opposed to
welfare assistance…[because] the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of
human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies…”
As
Catholics, we also need to be people who are supporting the poor all over the
world, particularly supporting Catholic missionary efforts around the world,
who are working with the poorest of the poor.
The Catholic
Church is clearly calling each one of us to do our own part, to have contact
with the poor ourselves, and support the care of the poor throughout the world!
Let us
embrace this call to care for the poor everywhere, and let us embrace that call
with joy!
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