Next Sunday, November 17, 2024, is the World Day of the Poor, a day established by Pope Francis in 2017 for Catholics to "reflect on how poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel." The theme for 2024 is "The prayer of the poor rises up to God" (Sirach 21:5).
"The poor hold a privileged place in God's heart," Pope Francis said in his message for the day. "God knows the sufferings of his children because he is an attentive and caring father. As a father, he takes care of those who are most in need: the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, and the forgotten. No one is excluded from his heart, for in his eyes, we are all poor and needy. We are all beggars because without God, we would be nothing."
Why did Pope Francis establish the day in 2017?
After the Year of Mercy, the pope said he wanted to set aside a day so that, throughout the world, Christian communities could become even greater signs of Christ's charity for those in need. We are called, Pope Francis wrote in his first World Day of the Poor message, "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 in itself."
The pope said that for Christ's disciples, "poverty is, above all, a call to follow Jesus in his own poverty," and he asked Catholics to take as their example Saint Francis of Assisi, who kept his gaze fixed on Christ, allowing him to see and serve the poor.
As we conclude our celebration of our 100th Anniversary, let us especially thank God for the blessings that have come to our parish through our service to those who hunger and thirst and those who need to be clothed. May God continue to bless these efforts for the poor.
God bless! Have a wonderful week!