The World Day of the Poor

Today, for the sixth time, we are celebrating the World Day of the Poor. This day is to help us to find ourselves in the middle of the Gospel. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Ministry of Mercy, emphasizes that this was the intention of Pope Francis when he established this day. From morning to evening, Jesus took care of those in need.

The World Day of the Poor inspired by the Holy Spirit
The motto of today's World Day of the Poor are the words: "For your sakes, Christ became poor" (2 Cor 8:9). This day was appointed by Pope Francis as the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time in the letter "Misericordia et Misera", issued at the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, in November 2016.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who witnessed the establishment of this day, told about the circumstances of the creation of this initiative. "The Holy Father during the Jubilee of Mercy, leaving the sacristy during one of the celebrations of this Jubilee, heard from people: why there is no day of poor, there is a day of missionaries, there is a day of doctors, there is a day of nurses and I do not know yet who. The Holy Father said later, when we met, that he carried it in his heart throughout the Holy Mass, how is it even possible that for a whole year he did not think of the fact that the day of the poor is the most important and at the end of this Holy Mass, without consulting anyone, full of the Holy Spirit, he said that every Sunday in November the Day of the Poor will be celebrated. Then he looked at me, where I was sitting among the concelebrants, and he saw my surprise, because we had talked before and no one had such an idea that it would be an annual celebration. Then, after Mass, he said: but you were surprised. This is how the Holy Spirit works, that we are surprised, and then it turns out that this is the most important thing"

Spiritual homelessness begets physical

"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head" (Mt 8:20) - Jesus said of his homelessness. Homelessness is still a serious problem. What lies at its root? – We rarely associate that the Lord Jesus was also homeless when He was born and when He wandered around Palestine. Did he want to show his full solidarity with the homeless of all times? Homeless people are most often at the same time poor, simple and defenseless against the power of the world. Every day I see people without a home.

I am also trying to find out why they are homeless: alcohol, drugs were to blame. But always I see that there are no people around the homeless who love them and no people that they can love. To be able to love and be loved is, as Eric Fromm said, to find meaning in life. Age, for example, is a completely secondary matter: sometimes someone becomes homeless at the age of nineteen, and sometimes also at seventy-year-old! They are – in the vast majority – men, but there are also women. I also observe that the number of homeless people is not decreasing. For a long time – or perhaps always – homelessness will remain an embarrassing problem in our cities, in our country.

Homelessness as a physical lack of a place to live, is tangible, easily measurable, but there is also spiritual homelessness. I am convinced that first there is loneliness, emptiness and spiritual homelessness, lack of healthy relationships with people – and the fruit of this becomes actual homelessness. The lack of interpersonal ties, love, friendship and warmth in the family, around man, makes him lose the meaning of life, work, care for himself and others, plunges into chaos, misery and loneliness.

Both homelessness usually go hand in hand, but the spiritual – gives birth to physical. Therefore, by dealing with the second one – we are trying to remedy the effects. Causes must be combated by healing hearts! The Church does this by fulfilling her normal mission: proclaiming the Gospel, recalling the necessity of conversion, celebrating the sacraments, catechizing. Is it doing enough? The Church is not only institutions, cassocks or habits, the episcopate, the Catholic press or radio; I have no doubt that understood in this way it does a lot. The people who make up the Church of Jesus Christ are extremely sensitive to poverty and are eager to help. The more Gospel there is in daily life, the more effective the care of the poor will become. Therefore, concern for the presence of Christ in the hearts of men and women is thus concern for those in need of help.

The drama of people who do not have a home often depends on themselves, but does it not also depend on those who own the house? What should those who have a roof over their heads do to those who dream of it?

Fr. Janusz Stanisław Pasierb in the book "Crossroads" writes: 'The house of God is man..., the house of man is not only man, but in the final sense God. The people we live within, the people that God has told us to love, the people we love - are proof that God is building us an eternal home, of which He Himself is light and warmth."

I cannot find a better recipe for caring for the homeless than expanding in me evangelical thinking and behavior toward people. This is not a simple or pleasant task, but the saints prove that it is possible.

Until Tomorrow

fr. george