OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“The face of God revealed by Jesus is that of a Father concerned for and close to the poor. The poor, always and everywhere, evangelize us, because they enable us to discover in new ways the true face of the Father.” (Pope Francis, Message for World Day of the Poor, Nov. 14, 2021, released July 13)
In the first Beatitude, Jesus teaches us that, indeed, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Today, Pope Francis continues to lift up this basic truth and tenet of our faith through the fifth annual World Day of the Poor: “In everything, Jesus teaches that poverty is not the result of fate, but a concrete sign pointing to his presence among us. We do not find him when and where we want, but see him in the lives of the poor, in their sufferings and needs, in the often inhuman conditions in which they are forced to live. As I never tire of repeating, the poor are true evangelizers, for they were the first to be evangelized and called to share in the Lord’s joy and his kingdom. They have much to teach us … they know the suffering Christ through their own sufferings. It is necessary that we all let ourselves be evangelized by them.”
In his World Day of the Poor message, Pope Francis refers to Hawaii’s first saint as a loving example of someone who dedicated his life to caring for the poor: “I think, among others, of Father Damien de Veuster, the saintly apostle to [people with leprosy.] With great generosity, he answered the call to go to the island of Molokai, which had become a ghetto accessible only to [the leprosy patients], to live and die with them. He rolled up his sleeves and did everything he could to improve the lives of those who were poor, ill and outcast. He became both doctor and nurse, heedless of the risks involved, and brought the light of love to that ‘colony of death,’ as the island was then called. He himself contracted leprosy, which became the sign of his total sharing in the lot of the brothers and sisters for whom he had given his life. His testimony is most timely in our own days, marked by the coronavirus pandemic. The grace of God is surely at work in the hearts of all those who, without fanfare, spend themselves for the poorest, sharing with them in concrete ways.”
Pope Francis, himself, has shown ways to share with the vulnerable in our midst. Two weeks ago, after undergoing surgery at the age of 84, our Holy Father was immediately visiting other patients in the hospital where he was recovering, thanking frontline healthcare workers and advocating for vaccines to be distributed in the poorest countries and basic health care services for migrants and refugees all over the world. In so doing, the pope, as always, emphasized “the poor are not people ‘outside’ our communities, but brothers and sisters whose sufferings we should share. … In short, believers, when they want to see Jesus in person and touch him with their hands, know where to turn. The poor are a sacrament of Christ; they represent his person and point to him.”
Many here in Hawaii are following in the footsteps of Jesus, and St. Damien and St. Marianne of Molokai. HOPE Services Hawaii and the Institute for Human Services (IHS), through their street outreach medical teams, consistently provide contact and care with the homeless and marginalized every single day throughout this pandemic. The pope calls this outreach to the mutually vulnerable “loving attentiveness” which inspires all to seek the common good together.
“We are called to discover Christ in them, to lend them our voice in their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to understand them and to welcome the mysterious wisdom that God wants to communicate to us through them,” Pope Francis said. “It is my hope that the celebration of the World Day of the Poor will grow in our local churches and inspire a movement of evangelization that meets the poor personally wherever they may be.
“We cannot wait for the poor to knock on our door; we need urgently to reach them in their homes, in hospitals and nursing homes, on the streets and in the dark corners where they sometimes hide, in shelters and reception centers. It is important to understand how they feel, what they are experiencing and what their hearts desire. The poor are present in our midst. How evangelical it would be if we could say with all truth: ‘We too are poor,’ because only in this way will we truly be able to recognize them, to make them part of our lives and an instrument of our salvation.”
For ways to participate in social ministries of the mutually vulnerable, following in the footsteps of Jesus and Saints Damien and Marianne of Molokai, please visitofficeforsocialminstry.org.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
Virtual session will give landlords info on gov’t vouchers
Are you a landlord who wants to help end homelessness in Hawaii but has questions and concerns?
Landlords interested in learning how to rent out their units taking advantage of generous government voucher funds are invited to attend a virtual information session on “landlord engagement” hosted by Scott Morishige, the Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness.
The session is 6:30-8 p.m., Thursday, July 29. You may join on your computer or mobile app. The session will be conducted on Microsoft Teams.
To get a link to the session, contact Cheryl Bellisario at 586-0009 or cheryl.a.bellisario@hawaii.gov.
Or to join the session by audio only, call +1 808-829-4853, conference ID: 533 760 811#.
For more information about landlord engagement, go to: homelessness.hawaii.gov/landlord-engagement.
