How we Treat the Poor is How we Treat Christ

Here's this weekend's homily.  Questions, comments, thoughts, criticisms, corrections, etc. are all welcome!

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 5 p.m. Saturday

                 Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Earlville, IA) – 8 a.m. Sunday Mass

                 Saint Boniface Catholic Church (New Vienna, IA) – 10 a.m. Sunday Mass

Date: Sunday September 29^th, 2013 (26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)

READINGS:

1^st Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
2^nd Reading: 1^st Timothy 6:11-16
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

FOCUS: Especially as Christians, we are called to serve the poor in our midst.  

FUNCTION: Defend the lives of the unborn; get involved in outreach to Haiti.  

          Ever since his election as Pope on March 13^th, 2013, Pope Francis has been shaking things up in the Catholic world.  Many people praise him; some people criticize him; but everyone is captivated by what this Pope is doing and saying.  After his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, taking the name Francis, many people wondered what inspired him to take the name; they wanted to know which “Francis” inspired him: was it St. Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary; or was it St. Francis de Sales, the great Doctor of the Church and master of the spiritual life; or was it St. Francis of Assisi, the rich young man who chose poverty as a way to renew the Church?

          In an address given to journalists just three days after his election, the Pope himself offered the journalists an explanation for why he took the name Francis; these are the Pope’s own words: “During the election, I was seated next to the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes: a good friend, a good friend!  When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me.  And when the votes reached two thirds, there was the usual applause, because the Pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss, and said: “Don’t forget the poor!”  And those words came to me: the poor, the poor.  Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi.  Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end.  Francis is also the man of peace.  That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi.”

          The Pope took the name Francis (a name never before chosen by a Pope) because of St. Francis of Assisi, who he says was “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation…”  And in his short time as Pope, he has clearly acted on his initial inspiration.  He has spoken often of the need for us to be concerned about the poor, about peace, about welcoming strangers and offering hospitality to those who are marginalized by society.  The Pope speaks about these subjects quite regularly in his “tweets” on Twitter; on Sept. 21^st, Pope Francis tweeted, “True charity requires courage: let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need.”  And on Sept. 24^th he tweeted, “Let us ask the Lord to give us the gentleness to look upon the poor with understanding and love, devoid of human calculation and fear.”  I think we can expect that this concern for the poor – in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi – will be a constant theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

          And truly, concern for the poor needs to be a constant concern for all of us as Christians; Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel – addressed to the Pharisees – is a sobering message for all of us: we need to take care of the poor in our midst.  We can’t simply step around them or ignore them – as we might imagine the rich man did in Jesus’ parable; we need to acknowledge them at our door, go outside, and treat them like human beings.  The poor have names, faces, family, hopes, dreams, desires, and needs; the poor are human beings who have been made in the image and likeness of Almighty God. 

          In Matthew 25, Jesus even identifies Himself with the lowliest members of society; He says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me,” (Matthew 25:35-36).  And the main point of Jesus’ teaching is this: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” (see Matthew 25:40).           

          And the poor are all around us.  Wherever we see the faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and those in prison – there we find the poor and the most vulnerable; and there we find Christ.  It all comes down to this: how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.  Are we generous with helping those in need?  Do we look on the poor and the less fortunate with love and empathy, or do we despise them, treat them harshly, and degrade them?  We need to examine our lives; because how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.

          I’d like to recommend two ways we can help to serve the poor in our midst.  The first is the annual 40 Days for Life campaign that started this past Wednesday September 25^th and goes through Sunday November 3^rd.  The official mission and vision statement from their website, 40daysforlife.com, says that, “40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil to end abortion.  The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40 day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.”  Preborn babies in the womb are the most poor and vulnerable members of society; we can work to defend the right to life of these children through a witness of love for both mothers and their children by praying in front of the Planned Parenthood building in Dubuque.  Getting involved in this wonderful campaign is a good way to help poor and defenseless babies – and their mothers – choose life and get help.  

          Another way to help the poor is to help St. Francis Xavier’s sister parish, Holy Cross, in Fonds-Verettes, Haiti.  Every year, a team of 10-15 parishioners go down to Haiti to bring clothes, medical supplies, personal hygiene products, and much more to the people living in abject poverty in Haiti.  Reaching out to the people in Haiti helps you realize that each poor person has a face, a name, and a story.  St. Francis Xavier’s Haiti Fund is always in need of donations to help the people of Haiti have the basic necessities of life.  Offering a donation to the fund, volunteering to make the trip down to Haiti, or donating needed supplies is a good, concrete way to help the poor who are so in need of our assistance.

          The poor are all around us; we must not neglect them or turn a blind eye to their needs; because how we treat the poor is how we treat Christ.