Option for and with

the Poor
Catholic Social Teachings

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 Option for and with the Poor
and Vulnerable
Jesus the Model [Mark 1:29-39]
➢ Preached in the Synagogue
➢ Went to a home
➢ Took her by hand and healed her
➢ Enjoyed a meal with them
➢ Healed the sick
➢ Silenced the evil spirits

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 Option for and with the Poor
and Vulnerable
Jesus the Model [Mark 1:29-39]
➢ Goes alone to pray
➢ Moves to nearby villages
➢ Travel to all the places

Made an option from various possibilities

Made an option to be part of some people
Made an option to respond to issues
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 Option for and with the Poor
and Vulnerable
Truly, truly, I say to you, in as much as you have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
you have done it unto me.
Thrust: Catholic teaching proclaims that a basic
moral test is how our most vulnerable members
are faring. In a society marred by deepening
divisions between rich and poor, our tradition
recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt. 25) and
instructs us to put the needs of the poor and
vulnerable, least first www.synod.va
 Option for and with the Poor
Issue 1: There are immense multitudes
of hungry, needy, homeless, without
health care and above all without hope
of a better future.
Response: Church reaffirms in all its
force the preferential option for the
poor.
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 Option for and with the Poor
Issue 2: Too few people control
wealth. The workers are subjected
to inhuman conditions.

Response: Challenge the rich to give

to the poor. Promote trade unions
and demand just wages.
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 Option for and with the Poor …
Issue 3: Works of mercy are
performed and claimed that we
‘work for the welfare of the poor’.

Response: Instead of works of

mercy do justice. You are not giving
what is yours but giving to the poor
what is theirs. www.synod.va
 Option for and with the Poor
John Paul II, in Sollicitudo Rei
Socialis (On Social Concerns,
1988), demanded, “Today,
furthermore, given the worldwide
dimension which the social
question has assumed, this love of
preference for the poor, and the
decisions which it inspires in us,
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 Option for and with the Poor…
cannot but embrace the immense
multitudes of the hungry, the needy,
the homeless, those without medical
care and, above all, those without hope
of a better future
[kindly add those persons and groups
who in your situation are poor]
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Option for and with the Poor…
Richman and Lazarus
It is impossible not to take account of
the existence of these realities. To
ignore them would mean becoming
like the "rich man" who pretended not
to know the beggar Lazarus lying at
his gate” (cf. Lk 16:19-31) (#42).
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Observe, Judge, Act

Dr. Fr. Prakash Louis, SJ www.synod.va

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Same work but unequal
wages

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If they do not work, we will
starve

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Small efforts make big
difference

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Women’s Empowerment

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In search of job

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Youth busy with social media
Rich and affordable

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 Biblical Basis
The theme of special care and love for
the poor is one that is central to the
biblical notion of justice. The OT
emphasized that God expects those who
are faithful to the covenant to pay
special attention to the "widows,
orphans, and aliens.” [Old Testament
repeats this] Deut. 16.11-12, Ex. 22.21-27, Isa.
1.16-17 www.synod.va
 Biblical Basis
Indeed, the treatment of the poor is one of
the basis for tests of the people's faith in
Yahweh
The preferential option for the poor refers
to a trend, throughout the Judeo-Christian
Bible, of preference being given to the well-
being of the poor and powerless of society in
the teachings and commands of God as well
as the prophets and other righteous people
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 Biblical Basis
Amos 5: 24. If no justice and option for the poor,
then
1) I hate; 2) I despise your feast days; 3) I take no
delight in your solemn assemblies; 4) if you offer
me burnt offerings I will not accept them; 5)
neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat
beasts
Take away from me the noise of thy songs; for I
will not hear the melody of thy harps. 5:21-23
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 Option for poor - Pope
Thus the Church has adopted the
phrase "option for the poor" to
describe this moral principle.
John Paul II has spoken of this
special obligation to the poor as "a
preferential, but not exclusive, love
of the poor”
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 Option for poor - Pope
He described this preferential love as
a "call to have a special openness
with the small and the weak, those
that suffer and weep, those that are
humiliated and left on the margin of
society, so as to help them win their
dignity as human persons and
children of God" (Saint John Paul II,
Address to Bishops of Brazil, 1980)
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 Understanding this Option
It is important to note that the word
"option" here implies a special
preference for the poor and the weak
but it is not intended to be divisive.
It does not mean that one should opt
for the poor and against those who
are not poor
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Understanding this Option
It is participating in the lives and
struggles of the poor and the
vulnerable and where their rights
are violated enabling them to
voice their struggles and where
necessary and possible be their
voice
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If Option is not followed, Offering
will not be accepted
Just as a family with a handicapped
child [child with special need] cannot
function in a healthy and mature way
unless its members give special attention
to that child, so a society cannot func-
tion well unless the poor and vulnerable
get special attention or preferential
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treatment
If Option is not followed, Offering
will not be accepted
In this, the beneficiaries are not only the
people with special need [needy], but
everyone. Only when these people are
taken care all the members of a society
are taken care. It follows, then, that the
"option for the poor" is an essential
part of society's effort to achieve the
common good [not individual] www.synod.va
Who can support the poor???
1.Individuals
2.Families
3.Communities
4.Organisations
5.Church
6.Religious
7.Society
8.Country www.synod.va
How can individuals and families
support the poor???
➢ Respect dignity of the poor
➢ Secure their rights
➢ Strengthen family life
➢ Overcome poverty for children,
women and adolescent girls, youth
Each situation and each group of poor
would require specific assistance
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How can communities and organisations
support the poor???
➢ Understand who are the poor
➢ Understand why they are poor
➢ Understand who keeps them poor
➢ Advocate their cause
➢ Demand accountability from public
officials
➢ Provide services - education, health care,
skill enhancement, empowerment
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How can government support
the poor???
➢ Serve the common good
➢ Address the basic needs of all
➢ Provide safety net for most vulnerable
➢ Pass laws to overcome discrimination
➢ Guarantee equal opportunity
➢ End structural injustice, misuse of power
➢ Work towards the dignity and rights of all
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 Poor and Poverty
Poverty is not simply a lack of basic food and
financial resources. It also includes deeper
deprivations, such as:
A denial of full participation in the economic,
social, and political life of society
The inability to influence decisions that affect
one’s life and options
A lack of access to basic healthcare
An absence of opportunities to help onself,
through such means as education, employment
opportunities with fair wages www.synod.va
Expectations from Christians
"As individuals and as a nation, we are
called to make a fundamental 'option
for the poor’
The obligation to evaluate social and
economic activity from the viewpoint of
the poor and the powerless arises from
the radical command to love one's
neighbor as one's self www.synod.va
Expectations from Christians
Those who are marginalized and whose
rights are denied have privileged claims
if society is to provide justice for all."

(US Bishops, Economic Justice for All:

Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S.
Economy. Washington, DC: USCC,
1986, #87.) www.synod.va
 Expectations from Christians
● Love for the poor is certainly
‘incompatible with immoderate love of
riches or their selfish use”. Catechism of
the Catholic Church, 2445.
● Further we are asked, “Learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression; bring
justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s
cause” (Isaiah 1:17).
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 Expectations from Christians
As followers of Christ, we are challenged to
make a preferential option for the poor, to
create conditions for marginalized voices to be
heard, to defend the defenseless, and to assess
lifestyles, policies and social institutions in
terms of their impact on the poor.
This does not mean pitting one group against
another, but rather, it calls us to strengthen
the whole community by assisting those who
are most vulnerable. www.synod.va
 What you are doing for the poor
and the vulnerable is Church’s
mission and evangelisation
“…Love for widows and orphans, prisoners,
and the sick and needy of every kind, is as
essential to the Church as the ministry of the
sacraments and preaching of the Gospel.”
Deus Caritas Est [God is Love” (22) Pope
Benedict 2005]
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Gandhi’s Talisman: A model that
can help us
“I will give you a talisman [jewel/exercise].
Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self
becomes too much with you, apply the
following test:
Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest
man/woman whom you may have seen, and
ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is
going to be of any use to him/her; www.synod.va
Gandhi’s Talisman: A model that
can help us…
❖Will he/she gain anything by it?
❖Will it restore him/her to a control over his
/her own life and destiny?
❖In other words, will it lead to swaraj
[freedom] for the hungry and starving
millions?
Then you will find your doubts and yourself
melt away." www.synod.va
 Points for Consideration
1.How do I/we understand the option for the poor?
2. Reflect as to how you will live out the Option for
the Poor and the Vulnerable in your formation.
3.Identify some activities through which you as an
individual would put into practice the Option for
the Poor and the Vulnerable.
4. Identify some activities through which as a group
you would put into practice the Option for the Poor
and the Vulnerable.
5. Prepare prayer services to pray for and with the
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poor and the vulnerable.