“When I gave food to the poor, people called me a saint. When I asked why are they poor, people called me a communist.” Dom Helder Paulo Câmara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil
Since her earliest beginnings, the Church has always been a church of the weak and the oppressed, of those who are the least, the last and the lost. The Church real treasures, as St. Lawrence the Martyr, told the Roman official have always been the poor, the homeless, the elderly, the small children, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the hungry and sick, the widows. Because of this, the Church has always had a history of being disruptive of the established social order, being accused of being a group of blasphemers and rabble-rousers, as Christ was. Today, in many places, the Church is branded as being radical, revolutionary and not in tune with the times.
But Christ and his message have always disturbed people. Where people would behave out of greed and selfishness, Christ challenges us to be generous and giving. Where people would act out of pride and anger, He challenges us to be meek and mild. Where people would give vent to hate, He gave us the great commandment of love. He did not mince words condemning those who lived only for themselves; but He had only words of comfort and consolation to those in pain and sorrow. He did not take away the pain and the sorrow but He promised a place and time where there will no more tears. Faced with the grim and inevitable prospect of death, He promised people the gift of eternal life. From the limitations of our earthly life, He promised our deliverance into a fullness of life.
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
~Psalm 144
Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
“Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go and tell that fox,
‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,
and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,
for it is impossible that a prophet should die
outside of Jerusalem.'”
Luke 13:31-33