In the nine-year preparation for the celebration of the five hundredth (500th) anniversary of the Christianization of the Philippines which started in 2013 with the Year of Faith, we are now in the Year of the Poor, another important period as poverty has always been closed to Christianity, to the Church built by Jesus who had a preference for the children, the poor and the marginalized. We cannot ignore what Pope John Paul II said in 1991 during his visit to the Philippines. Referring to the poor of the sugar plantation in Bacolod, the Pope declared: "The Church will not hesitate to take up the cause of the poor and to become the voice of those who are not listened in when they speak up, not to demand charity but to ask for justice. Yes, the preference for the poor is the Christian preference."
However, the poor is not just a simple preference. It is an obligatory choice. We also cannot ignore what the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines said also in 1991: "This is an essential option of Christian faith, an obligatory choice. Eternal salvation depends on the living out of a love of preference for the poor because the poor and the needy bear the privileged presence of Christ."
Pope Francis calls poverty a scandal. He posed it as a challenge for the Church, for the Christian, for the Churchmen as a whole.
The Bible says a lot about poverty and I encourage you review it in a document available on the Internet under the name of 'Poverty - What does the Bible say about the poor?'
In this valuable document, we are reminded, besides other things, that God is called by many names throughout the Scriptures in relation of His great love for the poor such as:
Defender of the fatherless
Protector of the poor
Rescuer of the poor
Provider of the poor
Savior of the poor
Refuge of the poor
We cannot stay indifferent to the Year of the Poor declared by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on November 30. There should not be any exclusion in our today's society but a full cooperation in which fraternity, love, compassion and charity are inseparable words, and together translated in one word…..brotherhood.
We live for others, not for ourselves.
Let us be with the poor in total faith.