We Are Partners of the Poor
Rev.Gus Carter
9/26/04

In the first reading today the prophet Amos complains about people who make elaborate arrangements for their own pleasure and are unconcerned about the mass of people perishing around them. The Gospel parable seeks to alert us to the dangers of becoming insensitive to everything except our own needs and comforts. A gulf easily grows between us and huge masses of the population. We often fail to see what is happening at our own doorsteps.

If we reflect on it, we know that luxurious life styles usually depend on others working for very low wages and living in poor conditions. Actually, it does not have to be that way. Some economist claim that labor unions forcing higher wages in the past created a dynamic in which more people shared the wealth of our nation. Yet in past years we have seen that when profits are not high enough, people lose their jobs. We have heard of outsourcing. When workers demand living wages, companies move to poorer areas of the nation. Otherwise, they move to countries where people are so poor that they are willing to work in almost any conditions and for any wage. The wealthy live far enough away that they often are removed from the misery to which they contribute.

We have read in the newspapers that top fashion companies in Los Angeles deliver material and collect clothing from subcontractors who exploit the poor here and in Orange County. There is much evidence that the primary owners do not care how they get cheap labor.

The man hanging around for crumbs is not a rarity. We know that the poor scrounge around the backs of restaurants to pick up what has been thrown out by diners. There are places in the world where large numbers of people live off of trash heaps. There are enormous contrasts and underlying injustices in society. The rich man in the gospel was not spectacularly wicked. He was deliberately ignorant of the results for others of how he got his wealth. Combined wickedness and insensitivity create a lot of misery.

It is easy for us to conclude that the very rich should change their ways. What about us who are economically ordinary people? The refusal to see the immense contrasts in the world and to reflect upon them allows destructive forces to continually mount. Ignoring the anguish of poverty hardens hearts. We become frightened and our sensibility grows dull. We become blind to what threatens our future as well as the needs of other people. We know that injustice breeds violence. As the gulf grows between the haves and the have nots, we are in danger of creating a society in which people do not want to live.

We need to realize that we have some responsibility for the world. Calling ourselves Christian means that we are willing to take on the task of standing on the side of God and of representing God's ways for people. Scripture over and over teaches us compassion and warns us of the danger of complacency in the face of deprivation. Scripture asks not only that we be generous, but that somehow we become partners of the poor. We are called to be aware of poverty around us and in the world. We are asked as well to see life from the perspective of the poor. We need to grow in our sense of solidarity with all humans, especially those in need.

As we look at all the problems, at the poverty and oppression, we say, "what can I do?" We need to feel our powerlessness. Sometimes there isn't much we can do. That feeling of powerlessness keeps us in touch with the poor and the oppressed. If we keep in mind the needs of the poor, we are much more likely to act when the opportunity presents itself.

We who have sufficient must develop a sense of gratitude, not complaining about what we do not have. For instance, sometimes we complain about high taxes and carrying the burden of the misnamed "undeserving poor." Most people are poor because they lack incentive or opportunity. We rightly want to stop fraud and waste in government. However, the wealth of the world is given to be shared. Proper use of tax money should become essential to widening each persons' opportunity to share in God's gifts to the world.

In the face of the pain ahd suffering in the world, we need to look at it, keep in touch with the poor as they suffer. We need to find at least some area where we can help. We cannot help everyone, but there is someplace where we can offer aid to those in need. Where we can, try to patronize firms that engage in fair labor practices.

We must let the poor enter our prayers, not as a mass of people but visualize someone in a particular situation. When we read of the poverty in Africa, try to visualize some of the starving individuals there and take them into your heart. Finally, this is a time of elections. When we vote we must have some sense of the needs of the poor, some sense of being open to changing our society so that it becomes more fair and less oppressive for so many persons.