“If God loves the outsiders, he is calling us to show compassion to them”. Photo: Image by Aleš Kartal from Pixabay
When Jesus proclaimed what his mission was to be, he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18). He then names captives, the blind, and the oppressed as some of the poor to whom he directs this good news.
Jesus explains the meaning of his mission to the poor through the beatitudes of St Luke's Gospel, by proclaiming, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh" (6:20-21). Many Christians find it hard to take these words seriously, so let us try to understand what they mean.
Firstly, they do not mean what early missionaries in South America said to enslaved Africans who were cruelly captured, put in chains, and sold. "Put up with your suffering," they said, "for we will baptize you and you will receive your reward in heaven." No, the Beatitudes are speaking about a reality that begins in the here and now of this lifetime.
Secondly, the Beatitudes do not say that the kingdom is for people experiencing poverty because they are good or better than others. No, the kingdom is for them simply because they are poor and needy.
When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one they were waiting for, he said," Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor" (Luke 7:21-22).
The four Gospels emphasize that those most favoured by Jesus' cures were the possessed, the blind, and the lepers. These individuals were all considered outcasts of their society because Jewish belief taught that their illness was the result of their sins, causing them to be socially shunned.
We know lepers had to leave their families and friends to live in isolation from society. Still, Jesus directed his attention to them and restored their health, to integrate them back into their families and communities.
The first Beatitude teaches us that the kingdom of God prioritizes the forsaken and the destitute of this world. Jesus cured them and taught them about God's love; showing that the homeless, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, the sick and depressed can be embraced with dignity if we as Christians overcome our prejudices and see that God's love beats especially for those who have been placed, through no fault of their own on the peripheries of society. If God loves the outsiders, he is calling us to show compassion to them.
When a lawyer asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. It is a challenge for us when we see a homeless person begging in the street; would we cross the road to avoid them? Or be the good Samaritan who squats down to say hello, what's your name, and then listen to what they have to say?
We may not be able to resolve all the financial problems that poor people have, but we can begin by sharing our time, visiting a rest home, and helping to welcome a migrant worker or family. Mother Teresa of Kolkata once said that what we do individually might be a drop in the ocean, but if we add all our drops together, the oceans will never be the same again.
Columban Fr Don Hornsey lives and works in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
