Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 24, 2004)

Suggested Emphasis

"The Lord hears the cry of the poor."

Salesian Perspective

The poor may not enjoy many things in life. However, that which they do possess - a special place in the heart and mind of God - stands heads and shoulders above any earthy riches or wealth.

Scripture is clear and unambiguous: God has special concern for the plight of the poor and needy, for the want of the despairing and broken-hearted, for the anguish of the lost and forsaken, for the spirits of those who are crushed, for the life of the lonely, for the soul of the sinner.

Jesus embodies God's love of the poor. While he reached out to people of all social, economic, ethnic and cultural classes, Jesus invested a significant amount of his time, his energy, his ministry - his love - with the impoverished, with the reviled, with the down-and-outs of his day. Jesus seems to have enjoyed the most success with the poor; he likewise seems to have felt most at home with them.

None of this is lost on St. Francis de Sales. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, he wrote: "We must practice real poverty in the midst of all the goods and riches God gives us. Frequently give up some of your property by giving it with a generous heart to the poor. To give away what we have is to impoverish ourselves in proportion as we give, and the more we give the poorer we become...Love the poor and love poverty, for it is by such love that we become truly poor...Be glad to see them in your own home and to visit with them in theirs. Be glad to talk to them and be pleased to have them near you in church, on the street and elsewhere. Be poor when conversing with them...but be rich in assisting them by sharing some of your more abundant goods with them." (Intro III, 15)

Three aspects of De Sales' observations are worth noting. First, to the extent that we reach out to the poor we come to know our own poverty, our own neediness, our own despair and our own misfortune. Francis noted: "We become like the things we love." Our willingness to serve the poor puts us in touch with the poor in all of us.

Second, the plight of the poor is an unmistakable challenge for us to be generous: to give from our abundance and, even more demanding, to give from our own want and need.

Third, we must recognize the more subtle forms of poverty in our own homes, neighborhoods, classrooms and places of employment, not just the obvious ones on street corners, heating grates, or bus stations. We must recognize the heavenly riches of which we are all in need: care, kindness, forgiveness, friendship, truth, companionship, healing, understanding, reconciliation, honesty, faith, hope...and love.

Clearly, faithfully, lovingly, convincingly the Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Do we?

Michael S. Murray, OSFS is the Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center