Cardinal Tobin:
Jesus, a poor Messiah who loves the poor
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor
(Lk 4:18, cf. Is 61:1)
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Vol. 7. No. 7
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
If you haven’t yet read the recently published Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, On Love for the Poor, a selection is provided below. However, I strongly encourage you to read the full text at: www.vatican.va
I love this letter because of its powerful content, but I also love it because it is a perfect blend of the pastoral heart and the profound teaching of the late Pope Francis, who initiated this project, and our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, who completed it. These two great pastors speak here with one voice, and what they tell us is important: God’s only Son, our Redeemer, became poor in order to love and serve the poor. And those of us who have committed to following Jesus, the poor Messiah, have an obligation in love to respect and serve the poor as he did.
According to Dilexi Te:
The Gospel shows us that poverty marked every aspect of Jesus’ life. From the moment he entered the world, Jesus knew the bitter experience of rejection. The Evangelist Luke tells how Joseph and Mary, who was about to give birth, arrived in Bethlehem, and then adds, poignantly, that “there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus was born in humble surroundings and laid in a manger; then, to save him from being killed, they fled to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-15). At the dawn of his public ministry, after announcing in the synagogue of Nazareth that the year of grace which would bring joy to the poor was fulfilled in him, he was driven out of town (cf. Lk 4:14-30). He died as an outcast, led out of Jerusalem to be crucified (cf. Mk 15:22). Indeed, that is how Jesus’ poverty is best described: he experienced the same exclusion that is the lot of the poor, the outcast of society.
The Gospels also reveal that Jesus, the poor Messiah, had a special love for the poor. He recognized their suffering, and he had compassion for their loneliness and fear. He never looked away from their plight or acted like it didn’t concern him. Always, our Lord stood with the poor—comforting their sorrows, healing their wounds and feeding their bodies and their souls—not as a condescending outsider but as one of them.
All disciples of Jesus Christ are called to love the poor as he did. We are invited and challenged to see the poor, to illuminate the reality of poverty, and to respond with transformed hearts.
We believe that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God; that each life is sacred, from conception to natural death; and that human dignity comes from who we are as persons rather than from what we do or what we possess.
We believe that all people should enjoy a quality of life commensurate with the demands of human dignity. That is why the social teaching of our Church welcomes the poor and oppressed as members of the family of God, who deserve a voice in their future. Christ taught that those with the greatest need should be attended to first. Through his words and example, he demonstrated that caring for the poor is both a matter of justice and charity.
Catholics in all regions of our archdiocese are deeply committed to serving those in need through our Catholic Charities agencies and our parishes, schools, and healthcare organizations. The generosity of our people is extraordinary, making possible thousands of hours of love and service every week in all regions of our archdiocese. As archbishop, I recognize and applaud the goodness of diverse people and institutions throughout northern New Jersey, and I thank God for the love and compassion shown to so many of our brothers and sisters in their time of serious need.
I also know that much more is needed. What can you and I do to help alleviate poverty—both now and in the future? We can “storm heaven” with confidence that our prayers will be heard and answered. We can work to strengthen families. We can advocate for economic vitality and access to affordable, top-quality housing, education, and healthcare. And we can support Catholic Charities and other social service agencies through generous and sacrificial gifts of time, talent and treasure!
Above all, as Pope Francis and Pope Leo make clear, we are called to love our sisters and brothers who are poor and vulnerable in many ways. We dare not be indifferent to them or to their plight.
As Christians, we are called to recognize Jesus in the face of the poor. Seeing our brothers and sisters as they are—members of God’s family who have gifts to share with us and who compel us to share our gifts in return—is an essential element of Christian charity. Seeing ourselves as stewards of all God’s gifts is integral to authentic Christian discipleship.
Let us acknowledge the poverty all around us. Let us respond with open and generous hearts to the immediate and long-term needs of our brothers and sisters. And let us recognize Christ in all who are poor, vulnerable, and in need of our love.
Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark
A Message from Pope Leo XIV:
In the one Christ we are one
Jesus, the poor Messiah
18. The Old Testament history of God’s preferential love for the poor and his readiness to hear their cry — to which I have briefly alluded — comes to fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. [14] By his Incarnation, he “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” ( Phil 2:7), and in that form he brought us salvation. His was a radical poverty, grounded in his mission to reveal fully God’s love for us (cf. Jn 1:18; 1 Jn 4:9). As Saint Paul puts it in his customarily brief but striking manner: “You know well the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” ( 2 Cor 8:9).
19. The Gospel shows us that poverty marked every aspect of Jesus’ life. From the moment he entered the world, Jesus knew the bitter experience of rejection. The Evangelist Luke tells how Joseph and Mary, who was about to give birth, arrived in Bethlehem, and then adds, poignantly, that “there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus was born in humble surroundings and laid in a manger; then, to save him from being killed, they fled to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-15). At the dawn of his public ministry, after announcing in the synagogue of Nazareth that the year of grace which would bring joy to the poor was fulfilled in him, he was driven out of town (cf. Lk 4:14-30). He died as an outcast, led out of Jerusalem to be crucified (cf. Mk 15:22). Indeed, that is how Jesus’ poverty is best described: he experienced the same exclusion that is the lot of the poor, the outcast of society. Jesus is a manifestation of this privilegium pauperum. He presented himself to the world not only as a poor Messiah, but also as the Messiah of and for the poor.
20. There are some clues about Jesus’ social status. First of all, he worked as a craftsman or carpenter, téktōn (cf. Mk 6:3). These were people who earned their living by manual labor. Not owning land, they were considered inferior to farmers. When the baby Jesus was presented in the Temple by Joseph and Mary, his parents offered a pair of turtledoves or pigeons (cf. Lk 2:22-24), which according to the prescriptions of the Book of Leviticus (cf. 12:8) was the offering of the poor. A fairly significant episode in the Gospel tells us how Jesus, together with his disciples, gathered heads of grain to eat as they passed through the fields (cf. Mk 2:23-28). Only the poor were allowed to do this gleaning in the fields. Moreover, Jesus says of himself: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58). He is, in fact, an itinerant teacher, whose poverty and precariousness are signs of his bond with the Father. They are also conditions for those who wish to follow him on the path of discipleship. In this way, the renunciation of goods, riches and worldly securities becomes a visible sign of entrusting oneself to God and his providence.
21. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus appeared in the synagogue of Nazareth reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and applying the prophet’s words to himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Lk 4:18; cf. Is 61:1). He thus reveals himself as the One who, in the here and now of history, comes to bring about God’s loving closeness, which is above all a work of liberation for those who are prisoners of evil, and for the weak and the poor. The signs that accompany Jesus’ preaching are manifestations of the love and compassion with which God looks upon the sick, the poor and sinners who, because of their condition, were marginalized by society and even people of faith. He opens the eyes of the blind, heals lepers, raises the dead and proclaims the good news to the poor: God is near, God loves you (cf. Lk 7:22). This explains why he proclaims: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20). God shows a preference for the poor: the Lord’s words of hope and liberation are addressed first of all to them. Therefore, even in their poverty or weakness, no one should feel abandoned. And the Church, if she wants to be Christ’s Church, must be a Church of the Beatitudes, one that makes room for the little ones and walks poor with the poor, a place where the poor have a privileged place (cf. Jas 2:2-4).
22. In that time, the needy and the sick, lacking the necessities of life, frequently found themselves forced to beg. They thus bore the added burden of social shame, due to the belief that sickness and poverty were somehow linked to personal sin. Jesus firmly countered this mentality by insisting that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Mt 5:45). Indeed, he completely overturned that notion, as we see from the ending of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony” (Lk 16:25).
23. It becomes clear, then, that “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.” [15] I often wonder, even though the teaching of Sacred Scripture is so clear about the poor, why many people continue to think that they can safely disregard the poor. For the moment, though, let us pursue our reflection on what the Scriptures have to tell us about our relationship with the poor and their essential place in the people of God.
A selection from the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te, On Love for the Poor
My Prayer for You
Please join me in saying this Prayer inspired by the Encyclical of Pope Francis Fratelli Tutti, nos. 64, 67, 70:
Lord Jesus,
You teach us in your parable that there are two kinds of people–
–those who bend down to help and those who look the other way.
Which kind of people will we be?
We say, “Yes, Lord, I will love you and love my neighbor.”
But then we ask:
The migrant… is she my neighbor?
Those in poverty…are they my neighbors?
Victims of war across the world… are they neighbors?
One who faces racism… is he my neighbor?
Those disabled or elderly… are they my neighbors?
You remind us: Yes. All of us neighbors.
Show us how to love, Lord.
May we open our eyes.
May we emerge from our comfortable isolation.
May we build a world of compassion and dignity.
Lord Jesus, who was neighbor to all,
Help us to persevere in love.
Help us to restore dignity to the suffering.
Help us to build a society based not on exclusion, but on community.
Amen.
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