WORLD DAY OF THE POOR

The purpose of instituting the World Day of the Poor, according to Pope Francis is that: “We may think of the poor simply as the beneficiaries of our occasional volunteer work or of impromptu acts of generosity that appease our conscience. However good and useful such acts may be for making us sensitive to people’s needs and the injustices that are often their cause, they ought to lead to a true encounter with the poor and a sharing that becomes a way of life” (Message for the First World Day of the Poor, n. 3). Fr. Billy Swan notes that, “What Pope Francis is calling for is something more radical. He calls for a deep solidarity with the poor and a culture of encounter which leads to sharing with those who no longer remain strangers but become a brother or sister who needs me. When this encounter happens, true evangelization takes place where there is giving and receiving in both directions. We become good news for the poor but the poor in turn evangelize us. Only then can we be truly transformed and united in our joy in the praise of God.”