UST – Institute of Religion

NAME (Instructor)

Harmony with the Human Community: Dialogue with

the Poor

Poverty also includes the growing number of urban poor brought about by

globalization, urbanization, materialism and secularism to mention a few.

Poverty remains the crucial challenge facing the region. According to the World Bank,

783 million extremely poor who live below the poverty line of US$1.9 (HK$15) a day,

about 33% live in South Asia and 9% live in East Asia and the Pacific.

“Life for those living in poverty is characterized by ill health, limited access to clean water and hygienic sanitation, poor quality housing, hunger, illiteracy and premature death. Such material deprivation in developing countries has been the impetus for international efforts to eradicate poverty throughout the second half of the last century.” Matthew Clarke, Mission and Development: God’s Work or Good Works? (New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2012), 1.

STAGGERING STATISTICS!

20

%

80

%

1 in everv 5 children are UNDERWEIGHT.

40

%60

%

2 in every 5 households have NO ELECTRICITY.

10

%

90

%

1 in every 10 households have NO TOILET.

40

%60

%

2 in everv 5 households have NO ACCESS TO SAFE WATER.

13

%

88

%

1 in everv 8 children are OUT OF SCHOOL.

5%

95

%

1 in everv 20 children are CHILD LABORERS.

10

%

90

%

1 in everv 10 adults are UNEMPLOYED.SOURCE: PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

STAGGERING STATISTICS!

SOURCE: PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

20%

20%60%50%

6%

44%

The Poor as Object of Evangelization to being Subject of Evangelization

Church Teaching on Poverty.

The poor are not only recipients of

the Good News but they are also

bearers of the Gospel”

(CFC no. 1188)

• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the prisoners free, to proclaim the year Lord’s favor.” Further, Jesus mentions that “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other town also because that is why I was sent.”

Lk 14:43

“Preferential option for the poor such as the migrants, indigenous and tribal people, women and children and the defense of human life, health care, education, peace making, cancellation of debts, and protection of environment.” John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation on Jesus Christ the Savior and His Mission in Asia Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), no. 32-41.

“The modern paradigm of mission understands salvation to include, beside forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God, liberation from all forms of socio-political oppression and promotion of economic well-being.”

Phan, In Our Tongues, 20.

“Mission must show redemption to be an option, both historically and collectively and in the personal lives of individuals.” Paulo Suess, “Missio Dei and the Project of Jesus: The poor and the ‘Other” as Mediators of the Kingdom of God and Protagonists of the Churches,” International Review of Mission Vol. XCII no. 367 (2003), 556.

• Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “throw away” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.

EG #53

The dignity of the human person is the very foundation of a moral

vision for society.

• For Paul VI, Evangelization is integral liberation, “For the Church, evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new: "Now I am making the whole of creation new." EN 18

Dialogue with the Poor

The poor are dialogue partners in mission for they are, like people of other faith and culture, instruments of evangelization.

Our faith in Christ, who became poor and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our concern for

the integral development of society’s most neglected members.” Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 186.

“Mission will mean a dialogue with Asia’s poor, with its local cultures, and with religious traditions.

“Neighborhoods function when people are neither too close nor too far, not overly involved in each other’s lives but not indifferent from each other.” Further, this neighborliness, “involves face-to-face relationships that go beyond the faceless world of the political, on the one hand, and the intimate and private world of family and friends, on the other hand. In other words we are not condemned to relating only either as friends or enemies. We can also be neighbors.”

• The Church must move outside where the people needs them the most and become, “a church bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 49.

ACTIONApplying new knowledge to praise (worship - to adore and praise God),

to bless (morals - to bless God by being a blessing to others), to preach

(doctrine - to share and proclaim faith)…

Do a virtual dialogue with someone from another faith or

economic situation, by connecting with them online and/or by

immersing in their life and activities especially during this

pandemic. Listen and learn from them and be evangelized by

them. Write a short reflection on what you have learned.

DIALOGUE WITH RELIGIONS

AND THE POOR