OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“The parable of the Good Samaritan is not simply a story from the past; it continues to challenge each of us in the here and now of our daily lives. It is easy to delegate charity to others, yet the calling of every Christian is to become personally involved.” (Pope Francis’s Message for World Day of the Poor, Nov. 19, 2023)
The World Day of the Poor is an annual event established by Pope Francis in 2016 to call attention to the plight of the poor and to encourage all to help those in need. This year’s message is based on an Old Testament quote that challenges each of us to be personally involved in hearing the cry of the poor and doing something about it: “Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor” (Tob 4:7). Our Holy Father chose the book of Tobit to provide us with a model of inspiration –– a poor blind person, who was known for random acts of merciful kindness, and who gave what little he had to those most in need.
The pope emphasized that Tobit’s example was not just about giving money to the poor, but was primarily about personally recognizing their dignity and treating them with respect and compassion. “The poor are persons; they have faces, stories, hearts and souls. They are our brothers and sisters … it is important to enter into a personal relation with each of them.”
Pope Francis points out that this personal connection with the poor is a vital component of Christian acts of mercy and charity. “What the poor need is certainly our humanity, our hearts open to love … Let us never forget that we are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.”
After a month of the Synod in Rome involving cardinals and bisheops, religious and laity, men and women — all sharing together around the same tables, this year Pope Francis proposed a provocative way to celebrate the World Day of the Poor. “How meaningful it would be if, on the Day of the Poor … we were to invite someone to share our Sunday dinner, after sharing in the Eucharistic table, the Eucharist we celebrate would truly become a mark of communion. If it is true that around the altar of the Lord, we are conscious that we are all brothers and sisters, how much more visible would our fraternity be, if we shared our festive meal with those who are in need!”
As the Thanksgiving season approaches, the pope asked us to consider sharing a meal with someone in need who would not typically be at our family table.
On Nov. 19, here in the Diocese of Honolulu, all parishes will participate in the U.S. bishops’ annual national second collection in support of Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which helps people work together to respond to complex challenges of poverty across the United States. CCHD was founded in 1970 as a U.S. Catholic Church’s response to systemic poverty. Over the last 50 years, CCHD has given more than $440 million in grants supporting parishioners’ involvement in 12,000 community-based organizations working to overcome poverty.
More than 12,000 parishes are currently engaged with the work of CCHD-funded groups, enabling Catholics of all ages to address and transform poverty in their community and provide opportunities for parishioners to go out to the peripheries, to “touch and heal the wounds of others.”
It is important to remember that 25% of the annual CCHD collection in our diocese stays right here in Hawaii to help our local neighbors in need. Through the years, CCHD funds donated by parishioners have contributed to effective community efforts including helping survivors of natural disasters rebuild their lives, assisting formerly incarcerated or homeless women with transitional housing and job training, and supporting non-profit organizations that help low-income families build and own affordable housing.
Bishop Larry Silva’s 2023 letter for the annual CCHD collection expresses beautifully the essence of the U.S. bishops’ appeal in the Diocese of Honolulu. “I strongly encourage all to give generously to the CCHD collection as a way of witnessing to Jesus by reaching out our hands to the poor and extending our arms to those in need.”
Contributing to the CCHD annual second collection at Mass is a way we can share the abundance of God’s love and be nourished by the Eucharist to build personal relationships with our brothers and sisters in need.
This year Pope Francis calls all to be like the Good Samaritan and Tobit by getting personally involved with others in need and focusing our gaze on Jesus by personally connecting with the poor.
For more on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, please visit usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development. For more on CCHD-supported ministry with vulnerable persons in Hawaii presented in short inspiring videos, please visit the website officeforsocialministry.org.
Mahalo,
your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
