The Inclusion of the Poor in Society

Paragraphs 186 through 216 of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium comes under the heading "The Inclusion of the Poor in Society." These thirty-one paragraphs look at the Scriptural basis for the Pope's concern for the poor and vulnerable members of our world. They also call us to restore what is rightfully theirs to those who have been shut out of our economic systems. (I suspect that it was this section of the exhortation that earned Pope Francis the label "Marxist.")

Rather than recapitulate what the Pope had to say about these issues, I think it might be more beneficial to remember or recall how the Scriptures regard the issue of the world's resources. This may be necessary simply to come to an understanding of how our culture looks at this issue differently.

The people of the Middle East did not look at the world's resources as limitless. They believed that when God created the universe, God created all that was necessary to sustain the lives of the world's inhabitants. They also believed that God apportioned this world's goods so that everyone had what they needed. Remember how God divided Israel up among the twelve sons of Jacob, giving to each son and his progeny a portion of the land. Each member of the tribe shared in this gift as each family unit was granted a patrimony. That gift was regarded as their personal property.

However, as time moved along, as people engaged in commerce and trade, it was not unusual for one unit to gain that which originally given to another, thus impoverishing the one and enriching the other. However, God's Law provided that every fifty years (in the Jubilee Year), each unit would restore what was not theirs originally to the unit which had lost it. In other words, the children of Israel were effectively forbidden to enrich themselves at the expense of another. In the Gospel of St. Luke, when Jesus visits the synagogue of Capernaum and picks up the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, he tells those gathered to hear him that he has come to proclaim a "Year of Favor." He is referring here to the Jubilee Year. Sadly, this provision in the Law was never observed as universally as one might hope. In other words, as modern parlance puts it, "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

Western culture does not view the world's goods in this fashion. We look at the created universe and come away with the conviction that there is always more on the other side of the hill. Just as the Federal Reserve simply prints more money every day without regard for whether there is really anything backing it up, we see the world's resources as inexhaustible. This has raised some very devastating problems for our world. As we continue to consume the world's resources, we have begun to realize that they are not, in fact, inexhaustible. Two different reactions to these problems have developed. Some in our culture have tried to develop a "recycling" culture, a way to reuse the resources and to preserve the limited supply. However, others have reacted differently. Instead of making sure that there is enough for all, they hoard what they have gained and refuse to share it with others. Aware of the fact that our resources are running out, they have chosen to protect their possessions while ever gaining more and more of the wealth of the world.

Both our consumption and our hoarding have created a world in which the vast majority of people simply don't even have the little they need to sustain life. Starvation and disease are simply a way of life in some areas of our world.

The Scriptures teach us that when one person has more than he/she needs, thousands of others go without. The Holy Father is calling upon us to restore a sense of balance so that all people can share in God's created bounty.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator