When I was a child growing up, I remember that whenever I heard the word poverty I would have images of people in some third world country. I used to think that poverty was somewhere else, “over there.” Perhaps some adults still have this notion that poverty doesn’t exist in the USA.
But in its document Poverty in America: a Threat to the Common Good, Catholic Charities USA states that around 37 million people live below the federal poverty level. This 12.6 percent of our own American population is composed mostly of what is called the working poor.
Poverty is a social and moral issue no matter where it exists.Poverty means that some of our brothers and sisters lack the resources to make choices. It means that thethings needed for basic human decency are hard to come by. Therefore, poverty isn’t just an “issue,” but it has a human face.
The first principle of Catholic Social Teaching refers to the Life and Dignity of the Human Person. Also, the fourth principle, Option for the Poor and Vulnerable means thatthere must always be choices available to guarantee this dignity.
Christ gave us the two great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. These are inseparable and as St John writes, we cannot say we love God if we hate our neighbor. If we are not in right relationship with our neighbor, then our relationship with God is also distorted.
Charity and Justice are the two legs of putting our faith into action. Both are needed in our continuing mission of following Christ. Some feel called to provide the immediate response of charity to a person in need. For others, wanting to address the underlying root of a social problem leads them to the advocacy work of justice.
The important thing for all of us is to understand that we are obligated by our faith to participate in the social mission of the church.
Practicing our faith in daily life means that we acknowledge each other as one family of God. We help to keep the “invisibility” of poverty visible when we make the effort to identify brothers and sisters in need.
Get to know those in your community, and find out where God is calling you to make a difference.
