Pope Francis Declares Today as World Day of the Poor

We may think of the poor simply as the beneficiaries of our occasional volunteer work, or of impromptu acts of generosity that appease our conscience.  However good and useful such acts may be for making us sensitive to people’s needs and the injustices that are often their cause, they ought to lead to a true 'encounter' with the poor and a 'sharing' that becomes a way of life...Let us love, not with words but with deeds -A message  from Pope Francis

The Vatican has set aside this day, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, as an occasion to commemorate the World Day of the Poor. This campaign in Catholic parishes (and other faith communities) around the world has two goals: to open our eyes to allow us to know the individuals and families in need in our communities, and to examine the systemic problems that perpetuate poverty at all levels. 

"The Holy Father announced this initiative, occasion, this opportunity for grace during the Jubilee when he reached out to those who are socially marginalized and so this is an opportunity for the Church around the world to not only celebrate and assist and be with those who are poor, but also to change our attitudes about poverty," Monsignor Geno Sylva told Vatican Radio.

Some perspective
While the purpose of the campaign is to focus on how individuals and families are affected by poverty, it is useful to look at statistics to put the problem into perspective. 

The impact of poverty is generally deeper in poor countries than in the western nations like ours. On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), the United Nations estimated that 767 million people around the world still suffer from extreme poverty (living on less than US$1.90 per day).  "While still a huge number, it represents a large reduction from the 1.85 billion people who lived below the international poverty line in 1990," said a report in The Huffington Post.

Closer to home, the U.S. Census estimates that more than 48 million of our neighbors live below the poverty line ($24,008 for a family of 4 with 2 children). That figure represents about 15 percent of our total population.  See full statistics on poverty in the U.S. (and globally) from Bread for the World.

In the U.S., the World Day of the Poor coincides with a national collection to support the work of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. bishops’ domestic anti-poverty program.This collection is the only annual opportunity to raise essential funds to support the work of over 200 anti-poverty organizations around the country. A pastoral aid (also en Español) is available for this day and includes a homily help, 

A Daily Commitment
So as we move through our prayers, our worship, our acts of charity on this 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Pope Francis urges us to mark this day not as an end in and of itself, but the beginning of our own personal commitment to work for an end to poverty. We can pray, we can give, and we can find ways to encounter our neighbors in need. 

"We know how hard it is for our contemporary world to see poverty clearly for what it is.  Yet in myriad ways poverty challenges us daily, in faces marked by suffering, marginalization, oppression, violence, torture and imprisonment, war, deprivation of freedom and dignity, ignorance and illiteracy, medical emergencies and shortage of work, trafficking and slavery, exile, extreme poverty and forced migration," said Pope Francis' statement. "Poverty has the face of women, men and children exploited by base interests, crushed by the machinations of power and money."