29th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Luke 28: 18:1-8) “The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor.”

               The Gospel today seems, as Yogi Berra might say “Deja Vu all over again.”  We seem to hear a repeated theme which is, “we must be persistent in prayer.” 

Two Sundays ago, we reflected on Jesus’ story of the neighbor who comes in the middle of the night asking to borrow food for an unexpected visitor who arrives in the middle of the night. The message was that if we keep knocking, help will be ours.

               Today, we have the story of the persistent widow.  She requests justice repeatedly until she is given it. We might ask why the Gospel writer tells similar stories within just a few short verses.  Perhaps these stories aren’t all that similar. 

               Jesus lived in a country that was living through a time of foreign occupation.  He was living under a government that had little concern for the rights of its citizens.  Nor did the rulers of the land of Israel care if those who were poor were mistreated, abused, or ignored. Jesus was asked how the people could hold on to hope in such a situation? 

               Jesus tells a story that has all kinds of subtle messages.  For instance, he has a widow as the protagonist of his story.  The word widow in Hebrews means “the one who has no voice.”  Widows needed someone to advocate for them because they had no rights. Men in the society had all the legal rights. If a widow didn’t have a sympathetic son, they would end up on the street begging or worse prostituting themselves.  The civil authorities didn’t care about the poor in Jesus’ world.  The woman in the parable had nothing and no one. 

               In our times, a lot of people’s situations are growing increasingly difficult. Impoverished people still need advocates.  The church has always felt that it has a duty to do so.  Following in the footsteps of Jesus, members of the early Christian Community felt they weren’t faithful disciples unless they helped the poor.

               In Greco-Roman Culture certain people were considered expendable: If a person had a chronic illness, if a child was orphaned, if a woman was cast out by her husband they had no rights.  Such people were considered a burden to be discarded.  If they died, those with power didn’t care. 

               And then along came the Christian Church.  Christians would sacrifice so that the poor would be fed.  Orphans would be adopted by Christians.  Widows were supported with food and shelter.  Sick people were nursed by Christian men and women.  Leaders of the ancient world thought this was foolishness. How could people sacrifice their own resources to take care of the weak? 

               But others looked at what Christians were doing for the poor.  And they were impressed.  Many people converted to Christianity because they saw a group of people engaged in unselfishly helping the needy. And they thought this was the way it should be. 

               Pope Leo in his recent exhortation entitled Delexi  Te which means I have loved you has reminded us of what the Church has taught from the beginning. The Church stands for the fundamental dignity of each human person. Pope Leo says ministering to the poor is a sign of love.  Humanity looks to the Church to help in times of need because the Church is the body of Christ.   Serving the poor isn’t an optional activity but it is primary to the Church’s identity. In this document he outlines how the Church has served the poor in every era.  Whenever the Church begins a ministry in a new area of the world the missionaries begin by serving the poor.  When we talk of evangelization this is where we start. We don’t start with cleaver media campaigns. We don’t begin with apologetics.  We start with concrete charity. If we don’t we impress no one.

               Today, we see how people who are in great need are exploited.  Such people cry out repeatedly. Faith tells us that people who have a Christian conscience need to respond.  As God hears the cry of the poor we need to hear and act.