Dear Friends,
The gospel today can be a bit challenging and confusing. Why would Jesus say that the poor are
blessed? The gospel passage is similar to a statement made frequently by the United States Bishop’s Conference
that there is a “preferential option for the poor” in the teachings of Jesus and in the work of the church. I have
had many discussions with good people over the years who have found that teaching difficult to accept. The
poor are not necessarily more virtuous than anyone else. Sometimes poverty can make people quite bitter and
angry, but poverty can also create a sense of humility, simplicity, cooperation and need in the lives of the poor.
It can lead to freedom and joy.
Those who have traveled with our IXIM group to Guatemala would be able to provide some firsthand
experience of seeing the reality of this teaching of Jesus. Heading to Guatemala we often times think that we are
bringing them something, but find out that we have much to learn from them. The poor may have many
disadvantages, but they have some very clear blessings they have as well. It is most often seen in the amazing
joy that they have in their lives. A reflection I have found helpful in understanding this comes from the
theologian Monica Hellwig. She lists ten advantages to being poor:
1. The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption.
2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their
interdependence with one another.
3. The poor rest their security not on things but on people.
4. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance and no exaggerated need of privacy.
5. The poor expect little from competition and much from cooperation.
6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries.
7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience born of acknowledged
dependence.
8. The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can
survive great suffering and want.
9. When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a
scolding.
10. The poor can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandonment and uncomplicated totality
because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.
May I suggest that you try a little spiritual exercise with Dr. Hellwig’s list. See if you can replace the
word poor with the word rich and if it still works. Then, replace the word poor with your own name and see if
the list is still true.
There is a blessing in being poor. They are not blessed because of their miserable state, but they are
blessed because they more easily admit of their need for God. Perhaps people who are wealthy and comfortable
will readily find God, but they may tend to rely on their own abilities and advantages before they seek out God.
Sooner or later, we all face an illness, family crisis, or our own approaching death in which we have to radically
admit that we are not in control and that we are in need of God. It is a tremendously liberating thing to let go of
our need to control and to give our lives over to God. At that moment we are experiencing what Jesus means by
“blessed”.
Peace,
Fr. Damian