Poverty Veiwed By The Church Essay, Research Paper

The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich.” Pope John Paul II, Toronto, Canada, 1984. Poverty is an immense problem that is found all over the globe. It comes in many forms and in areas in numerous countries. Poverty, in a dictionary, means the state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts. Even though this is true in most countries, in some other countries they don?t need what we want. Poverty is not always lacking in materials but in happiness.

According to the United Nations material poverty remains a serious problem. In countries of the South, one person in three (in total about 1.3 billion people) lives in poverty, and more than 12.5 million children die each year from easily preventable diseases . Primary health care, basic education, safe drinking water and adequate nutrition are available to fewer than one billion human beings. The average income of the wealthiest 20 per cent in our world is 150 times greater than that of the poorest fifth.

Canadians are faced with a deteriorating situation. At a time when the international community invites action toward the eradication of poverty, governments are pursuing three objectives: to cut social spending, to reduce deficits and to pay back our debts. But who raises their voice on behalf of the 4.8 million people (one of every six Canadians in 1994) living in poverty? Do Canadians realize the human cost of sustaining an overall national poverty rate of 16.6 per cent? There is no doubt: poverty must remain the top priority on the social policy agenda and not only after the debt or other social ills have been addressed.

The existence of poverty in Canada seems contradictory to the fact that the country appears at the top of the United Nations Human Development Index. What is important to consider is that poverty strikes some Canadians harder than others – families headed by single-parent mothers and people living alone are more likely to be poor. Additionally, one study estimated that as many as one of every three Canadians will be poor sometime during they?re working lives. Our pastoral letter focuses on some of the groups that have been most deeply affected by poverty in the entire country: women, aboriginal people, displaced persons, children and young people in families.

Our pastoral reflection on poverty begins in the Old Testament, where the liberation from slavery of the people of Israel (Exodus 3:7-12) constituted a crucial religious and social-political event . This liberation was the basis of the formation of the Chosen People, and became the defining element that revealed the God of the oppressed, the God of the impoverished. In response, the sign of the observance of the Covenant was an engaged care for the impoverished. As written in the book of Deuteronomy (15:4): “there shall be no poor among you.” Thus one understands the Israelites’ preoccupation with justice, almsgiving, and the passing of laws to make social solidarity a reality in their land. They saw the struggle to eradicate poverty as a sign of the presence of God and a cause of hope for a better world.

Our reflection reaches its peak in the New Testament. In coming into this world, Jesus Himself chose a life of simplicity. Throughout His ministry, He identified Himself

with the poor and marginalized of the day. Rather than suggesting that economic prosperity was a sign of God’s favor, Jesus was not afraid of cautioning His disciples against the danger of possessing riches. Jesus’ main activity was to preach the Good News to the poor (Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5). With Jesus, “the Kingdom of God appears, first and foremost, as hope for those women and men who are socially marginalized . . . it is through them, through their lives, and through their hopes that the Nazarene speaks to everyone who is not rejected or excluded.” In this way, Jesus’ life illustrated “the preferential option for the poor.” Jesus goes so far as to say that whatever is done for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, is deemed as being done unto Him (Matthew 25:31ff) .

For the first Christian communities, a tremendous value was placed on the communal sharing of earthly goods (Acts of the Apostles 2:44-45; 4:36-37). This was a concrete way of putting into practice the new commandment of Jesus: to love one another (1 John 3:17; James 2:5). St. Paul organized a collection for the poor of Jerusalem, and told the Corinthians that their participation would be a measure of the genuineness of their love (2 Corinthians 8:8).

Messengers have always brought intelligent arguments in this content. This comment relives the thinking of it being wrong to be rich, “Dives didn’t go to hell because he was rich; Dives didn’t realize that his wealth was h is opportunity. It was his opportunity to bridge the gulf that separated him from his brother Lazarus. Dives went to hell because he passed by Lazarus every day and he never really saw him. He allowed his brother to become invisible . . . Dives went to hell because he sought to be a conscientious objector in the war against poverty. And this can happen to America, the

riches nation in the world–and nothing is wrong with wealth — this is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have–nots. The question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.” Dr. Martin Luther King speaking at the National Episcopal Cathedral in Washington D.C. in 1968.

This does not that mean being are wealthy it is a sin. This explains that if you are rich that means you are blessed but you must take this blessing and help all you can to your neighbors. God?s wants everyone to help each other but its what we do that make us human. Through a God-given dignity, each person has basic rights and responsibilities that flow from our human nature, and belong to us regardless of any social or political structures . These rights include the right to life, and to those things which make life truly human. They also include the right to political and religious freedom, and the right to safe working conditions. All of these rights carry corresponding responsibilities we have to one another, to our families, to our communities, and to the larger society, to respect the rights of others and to work for the common good.

We learn from Catholic teaching that each person is social by nature, and not by choice. As part of the human family, we are dependent upon a wide range of relationships and communities, which are essential for our full human development. It is in these communities where we have our rights met, and where we are able to fulfill our responsibilities for others. Thus, full human potential can only be realized and protected in community with others. It is within these relationships that we come to appreciate our own worth, dignity and equality.

From Catholic teaching we learn that all people are called to attend to the needs of others, and to recognize that persons in society with the greatest needs require the greatest response and attention. This is the foundation for the “option for the poor” which appeals to each one of us to recognize the special obligation we have to the most poor and vulnerable in society. To make an option for the poor is to commit oneself to resisting the injustices, oppression, exploitation and marginalization of people that permeates virtually all societies.

Do we have the compassion that leads to action in the face of such suffering? Again and again Jesus calls us by word and example to compassion. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan. A person is beaten and robbed and left on the road to die. People passed him but one person stopped and assisted his brother in need. In today’s world there is not one, or three, or ten people on the road. Two-thirds of our world neighbors are on the road. El Salvadorian Theologian, Jon Sobrino states: “The poor and improve rished of the world, in virtue of their very reality, constitute the most radical question of the truth.” (P.30) .

As Catholics we must answer the call of God and treat everyone as we do on to ourselves. If this thinking is achieved then our social structure would change and poverty would be eliminated in a worthy manner instead of communism, which doesn?t promote happiness, and God wants us to be happy and joyful. God gave us human beings, free will; he can not intervene in our matters and eliminate poverty because in doing so he abolishes the gift he gave us. He loves us enough to let us do as we wish even if it means making mistakes. We can learn from our mistakes and poverty can be conquered.

Bibliography

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United States: Takned Ltd., June 1996

Paul Hilton, Finding Grace;

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Mark Smith, Serving Society;

Canada: Smith & Smith Ltd., September 21,1982

Greg Waltons, Being Blessed;

United States: Albetrs co., January,1985

Fed Galson, Christianity?s Watching;

Britain: Jones ltd., 1993

EXCHANGES ECHANGES INTERCAMBIOS

Internet. New York:

http://web.lemoyne.edu/~bucko/sj_pj_64.html#vita

Poverty Guidelines, Research, and Measurement

Internet. United States:

http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/poverty.htm

U.S. Cenus Bereau

Internet. United States:

http://www.census.gov/index.html