At Christmas—or at any other time of the year—we need to move beyond romantic pictures of Christ’s poverty, and check how we treat the really poor.
There is a story told of how the leaders of the world came together to discuss the plight of the poor. The question asked was, “What do you think about the scarcity of food in the rest of the world?” The first group of leaders focused on the word ‘think’. “In our country,” they said, “we don’t think. We have upgraded to artificial intelligence. Machines do the thinking now. We gave up this faculty a long time ago. Sorry, we are unable to contribute to this discussion!” The next group of leaders belonging to the First World unanimously said, “We don’t understand the word ‘scarcity.’ We come from a world of ‘abundance.’ ‘Scarcity’ is not part of our vocabulary. We really don’t understand your question. Forgive us, we can’t contribute to this discussion.” All eyes now focused on the third group. They had, perhaps, something to offer. The silence in the hall was shattered when one of them asked, “What do you mean ‘the rest of the world’? We are the world, we rule the world, there is nothing like the ‘rest of the world’. Who do you think they are? And, as far as we are concerned, the rest of the world doesn’t really exist. This question is totally irrelevant!”
The story sadly ends with the poor continuing to be ignored and dying of starvation! While a third of the world’s population dies of starvation, we can righty say that a third die also from over-eating! The World Food Organization Program rightly said, “The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.” Hunger is still the number one cause of death in the world. In our own country, for instance, forty-eight percent of the children are malnourished.
POVERTY AND SHARED PROSPERITY
In October 2017 the World Bank published a report on the latest global poverty figures, called, ‘Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality.’ As of today, an estimated 767 million people live below the international poverty line, which is $1.90 (approximately INR 125/-) per person per day. The World Bank proposed a goal to promote shared prosperity in every country in a sustainable way by encouraging income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each country.
The only way to reduce income inequality, according to the Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report, was to focus on six parameters for future policies. These include:
- early childhood development and nutrition,
- universal health care,
- universal access to quality education,
- cash transfers to poor families,
- rural infrastructure and
- progressive taxation.
The target date is 2030! But, when our human barriers of selfishness and insensitivity come in the way, no target is ever achieved, however noble the effort. Many would sadly cling on to the lyrics in ‘Live and Let Die’ by Paul McCarthy, “But if this ever-changing world in which we’re living, makes you give in and cry, say live and let die!” Shared prosperity is an idea that does not exist in reality.
POPE FRANCIS: WORLD DAY OF THE POOR
Lofty targets, set for 2030 by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), are challenging and achievable only when there is a change in our lifestyle, our attitudes and our openness to bridge the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Reviewing the SGD index, India fares very poorly—occupying the 117th place among 157 countries!
Pope Francis, the Pope of the Poor, is a change-setter. He is no economist, but his Christonomics calls for a new world order. The first World Day of the Poor was kept on November 19, 2017. In his message he wrote: We are called, then, to draw near to the poor, to encounter them, to meet their gaze, to embrace them and to let them feel the warmth of love that breaks through their solitude. Their outstretched hand is also an invitation to step out of our certainties and comforts, and to acknowledge the value of poverty itself.
The tear-eyed faces of the poor stare at us with hope. Their empty hands stretch out to us for comfort and a supporting hand. Their famished rib-caged bodies struggle to take the next step. Time stands still for the poor. Their future is just a painful yesterday relived today once again. We are challenged to open our hands to them. There is a blessing in being an open hand to the poor!
Pope Francis continues to affirm the ‘beatitudes’ of the World Day of the Poor: Blessed, therefore, are the open hands that embrace the poor and help them. They are hands that bring hope. Blessed are the hands that reach beyond every barrier of culture, religion and nationality, and pour the balm of consolation over the wounds of humanity.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER: It’s easy to walk away from the less privileged. They really know that you don’t care. It takes courage to change their perception of you. Pope Francis suggests that we develop a ‘culture of encounter’ and to shun the culture of discard and waste. It invites us to take the first step towards the poor. Begin with what comes natural to you: start a conversation, share a meal, give a smile. Listen to their stories. Behind their fragile faces and lives are humans capable of being loved and of loving in return.
- BELIEVE THE POOR HAVE MUCH TO CONTRIBUTE: Most countries and cities of the world have the ‘poor ones’ as their economic backbone. In India, 7% of GDP is generated from the slums. Mumbai’s Dharavi slum residents—experts in leather, textiles and pottery products—have an annual turnover estimated at US$1 billion. And yet, because they live in slums, we label them as unproductive, lazy and a burden to society. Join the various campaigns that support the Slum Rehabilitation in your vicinity. Enjoying a quality of life is their birth-right as well. “The poor are not a problem, they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practice in our lives the essence of the Gospel,” says Pope Francis.
- CELEBRATE WORLD DAY OF THE POOR EVERYDAY: Birthdays are only anniversaries; we live life 365 days! In the same way, the World Day of the Poor must ignite in us a heart full of compassion and empathy towards the poor. I spend my evenings daily with youngsters from the slums. It is the happiest moment of my day. They teach me lessons and values that no seminar or book can provide. Don’t be too judgemental and make wrong conclusions about the poor. Remember the old Native American quote, “don’t judge until you walk a mile in their moccasins.” As religious, the poor must be our first choice of ministry and the reason for our existence too.
- REMEMBER YOU COULD BECOME POOR OVERNIGHT: All our possessions are no guarantee that we will remain rich all our lives. Tragedy strikes at any time. From ‘riches’ to ‘ashes’ is a sad story of many well-to-do personalities. Remember, our identity does not come from what we possess. “If who you are is because of what you have, and what you have is lost; then who are you?” are words worth reflecting upon.
- LIVE THE JESUS WAY: Jesus was a friend of the poor. He became poor like one of us. The downward mobility of Jesus is a sign and an assurance that God loves and defends the poor. The poor need you to be their friend, just as you need to have them as your friend. Defend the cause of the poor in your locality. Do all it takes to stand for their basic rights. Human dignity is a treasure they all need. Mother Teresa rightly said, “I will never tire of repeating this: What the poor need the most is not pity but love. They need to feel respect for their human dignity, which is neither less nor different from the dignity of any other human being.”
If you really believe that Jesus is in the face of the poor, would you pass the test? Would you recognize his face in the sad, the poor, the unloved? Take the first step. Befriend the poor and bridge the gap between them and you.
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