How Does This Affect Me? An Exploration of Poverty

Why all this talk about the poor?

“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did it for me.” Matthew 25 When we help the poor—whether they are physically, emotionally, or spiritually needy—we are doing service to Jesus himself. The preferential option for the poor refers to the obligation of each one of us to give not only our excess, but give of our essentials, ourselves, to those most in need in our communities.

Some of us are called to work heroically with the poor, giving up everything to do so.

Others are called to work for justice for the poor through education and legislation.

“For the Church, charity is everything because its origin is God’s love.” Pope Emeritus Benedict When Christians work for justice for the poor in the world, we do so in a different way than non-Christians. We may work in the same organizations and toward the same goals. But, Christians are called to help all people not for a political agenda, but because each person is an image of God and is deserving of love and mercy.

It is often very easy to identify people we think of as “poor”.

But what about those who are not so easy to identify?

In the US, many people are “working poor”. That is, they have jobs that do not pay enough for them to be able to live. These people often struggle with housing, transportation, and other issues that make keeping a job difficult. For these Americans, more than just a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter is needed.

“Let us always remember this: only when we are able to share do we become truly rich; everything that is shared is multiplied! The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need, those who have nothing apart from their poverty!” Pope Francis