World Day of the Poor

This month the Church marks the World Day of the Poor. The theme this year is “The Lord is my hope”.

Amid life’s trials, our hope is inspired by the firm and reassuring certainty of God’s love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That hope does not disappoint. That love flows in abundance and endures forever.

The poor can be witnesses to a strong and steadfast hope, precisely because they embody it in the midst of uncertainty, poverty, instability and marginalization. They cannot rely on the security of power and possessions; on the contrary, they are at their mercy and often victims of them. Their hope must necessarily be sought elsewhere.

By recognizing that God is our first and only hope, we too pass from fleeting hopes to a lasting hope. Once we desire that God accompany us on the journey of life, material wealth becomes relativized, for we discover the real treasure that we need. The words that the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples remain . “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven”.

The word of God tells us that Christian hope is certainty at every step of life’s journey, since it does not depend not on our human strength but upon the promise of God, who is always faithful.

We as Vincentians do this by bringing hope to the poor through are visits, our stores, all of our projects. Most importantly we bring them hope in the way we treat the poor, in the respect and concern they receive from us. We do this by living our core values; love, respect, justice and joy.

But we too, as we journey through life, need hope everyday. We need it as we struggle with problems in our families, our health, addictions and all challenges in life.

Christians have identified hope with the symbol of the anchor, which provides stability and security. Christian hope is like an anchor that grounds our hearts in the promise of the Lord Jesus.

Each of us is called to offer new signs of hope that will bear witness to Christian charity, just as our role model Blessed Frederic Ozanam.

We also need to encourage the development of policies aimed at combatting forms of poverty both old and new, as well as implementing new initiatives to support and assist the poorest of the poor. Labor, education, housing and health are the foundations of a security.

We know that the Lord is our hope and we will never hope in vain.

Deacon John Girolami
SSVP ONRC Spiritual Advisor