Opening Prayer
If you like to use music in prayer, listen to Lauren Daigle’s I Will Rescue You, particularly for times when we have been vulnerable, embracing God’s infinite tenderness for each of us who find ourselves still in that place of deep vulnerability and unknown.
Gracious God, in Jesus you embody such deep humility. You understand what it means to be mistreated and vulnerable while bearing the Imago Dei. Soften our hearts, with this reminder, to be compassionate in the needs and opportunities that we prioritize for the good of the most vulnerable image-bearers among us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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“We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it.” –Dorothy Day
The name Dorothy Day has come up in these conversations before and I will mention her again today. Not only because she wrestled with and articulated, better than most, the potential for meaningful relationships between the marginalized and ourselves; but also because she is the author of the book I’m giving away today (The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus).
Because of her work within the Catholic Worker, she was exposed to the loneliness and the needs of those who found themselves living on the margins of society. She noted the simple distinction that the deep loneliness that we have all experienced can only be combated in a place of community.
Creating this space for community is a culmination of recognizing one’s human dignity, our common call to community, and the responsibility each of us has in acting for the good of the other. She was ahead of her time, and often chastised for the way she embodied each aspect of Catholic Social teaching. Culturally she was known as a radical, but only insofar as it made her priorities radically focused on seeing Jesus in the poor.
“If someone who has the riches of this world sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17). It is well known how strong were the words used by the Fathers of the Church to describe the proper attitude of persons who possess anything towards persons in need. To quote Saint Ambrose: “You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the rich.”
Populorum Progressio (“On the Development of Peoples”), Pope Paul VI, 1967, #23.
For some, the wording of this theme (Preferential Option for the Poor) has caused some concern. You might ask, “Does God prefer one person to another?” “Does God love the poor more than the wealthy?” These questions are right to concern us, but a look at Scripture will confirm for us that Jesus always stands with those whose dignity is being overlooked (the leper, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collector, the sinner, the widow, the children, etc).
Preferential option for the poor summarizes Jesus’ inclination toward those on the margins while modeling for us a posture for the disposition of our hearts.
Questions for reflection:
-What aspect of this tenet of CST do you find most comforting? Most distressing?
-What is one change I could implement personally to make decisions more intentionally that would give more dignified options for God’s image-bearers?
-What questions do I still have about having a ‘preference’ toward the poor and vulnerable?
Closing Prayer
Word made flesh, touch our hearts with Your tenderness for those whose needs go unmet. Send your Spirit into our imaginations that we might find ourselves inspired to receive and share what we have been given as a total gift. We ask this through Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
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“Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.” -Fr. Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart
If you do not find Christ in the beggar at the Church door, neither will you find Him in the Chalice.
**To enter to win The Reckless Way of Love, respond to one of the reflection questions on either Facebook or Instagram. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday at 7 pm MST.