In today’s complex world, the Church continues to challenge us to make a clear “preferential option for the poor.” This is more than just a nice-sounding phrase or a clever play on words. It reflects Jesus’ own mission choice as manifested in today’s Gospel, especially in the words Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah.
Meaning of the Phrase. When speaking about the “option for the poor,” we are in the area popularly known as “Catholic Social Teaching.” This vision of the Church concerns the human person in society and covers all spheres of life—political, personal, social, economic, and spiritual. At the center of this teaching is the inviolable dignity of the human person.
The phrase includes several pivotal words. Option means to choose a specific pathway or course of action. The poor are those marginalized persons in society: children, persons with disabilities, widows, sick people, victims of injustice, the homeless, among many others. Preferential implies that in our choices and decisions we will give greater weight to siding with the needy.
History of the Principle. The phrase “preferential option for the poor” was first used in 1968 by the Jesuit superior general, Father Pedro Arrupe (now a candidate for sainthood). The term was later picked up by the Catholic bishops of Latin America. In 1991, Pope John Paul II used the term in his encyclical Centesimus Annus, which celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, which marks the beginning of Catholic social teaching. John Paul II expanded the use of “option for the poor” to include spiritual as well as material poverty.
Pope Francis follows the same preferential option. Personally, as a missionary in the Philippines, I recall the theme of Francis’ 2015 Philippine visit: Mercy and Compassion. When he addressed the typhoon-weary faithful at the Tacloban Airport on January 17, 2015, he said: “If today all of us are gathered here, fourteen months after the passage of Typhoon Yolanda, it is because we are certain that we will not be disappointed in our faith, for Jesus has gone before us. In his passion, he took upon himself all of our sorrows…. So, we have a Lord who is able to weep with us, who can be at our side through life’s most difficult moments…. Be sure that Jesus does not disappoint us.”
Scriptural Bases. During his public ministry, we see that Jesus is God’s kindness in person; his is a ministry of compassion to the little, lonely, least, lost, and last of society, e.g. widow of Nain (Lk 7:11-17), woman with hemorrhage and Jairus’ daughter (Lk 8:40-56), epileptic demoniac (Lk 9:37-43), woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11). Jesus’ parables show his identification with the poor, e.g. Good Samaritan (Lk 10: 29-37), Lost Sheep (Lk 15:4-7), Lost Son (Lk 15:11-32). In the Last Judgment narrative, Jesus directly identifies himself with the poor and needy; he says: “I tell you solemnly, as long as you did it to one of these least brethren of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Indeed, the Gospels are filled with examples of Jesus’ own “option for the poor” of his day!
Teaching of the Church. Recent popes have highlighted the duty of Catholics to sensitively serve the poor and needy. Pope Francis constantly emphasizes the “absolute priority of ‘going forth from ourselves towards our brothers and sisters’…. The way we treat others … [should] correspond to the mercy which God has shown us: ‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’” (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium 179).
Reflection Questions. In our community, who are the poor, lost and marginalized? How can I be more sensitive to the needs of others? When was the last time you voluntarily denied yourself something so as to help another? Do you frequently ask Jesus to make you more generous and less selfish?
Notes on the Sunday Readings
First Reading Nehemiah 8:2-10 — Today’s reading from the book of Nehemiah narrates how the layman Nehemiah and the priest Ezra worked to restore both government and religion in the sixth century B.C. (following the captivity of the little Jewish nation in Babylon).
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 19:8-10, 15 — This psalm speaks of the words of the Lord as providing spirit and life; they refresh the soul, give wisdom, rejoice the heart, and endure forever.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 — Here we see Paul instructing his Corinthian converts about challenging problems in the community. Everyone must be aware that though there are numerous charisms in the Church, all are united because they are the one body of Christ.
Gospel Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 — The Gospel of Luke, the evangelist of current “Year C,” has been called “the loveliest book in the world.” Today’s reading provides us with the first preaching by Jesus in his home-town synagogue. One may truly say that today’s gospel is Jesus’ “mission statement,” an agenda he lived out during the three years of his public ministry.