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Jen Maramion

BMLS-2E

August 5, 2015

Year Of The Poor


When you gaze into the eyes of the Crucified Lord, and he gazes into yours, you
encounter the love of the Resurrected Lord. Many prefer not to look. Many recoil at
looking into the eyes of a man in deadly pain. Many balk at having to respond to love.
But these are not the eyes of a defeated man, condemned for criminal insurrection.
They are the eyes of an unlikely King, who in dealing death its death blow, still looks into
our eyes with challenge. In his love is his call to the Kingdom of his Father, his
Kingdom of justice, compassion, peace and life to the full.
You who are poor, Christ feels your suffering and he always with you. He walks
with you through in society that judge you and stumbles on mud when you stumble. You
once thought you could escape the judgmental world. But your suffering only
increased. Here, you cannot find the solution to you suffering, neighbors are distant and
cannot help you because they have their own problems. Looking into his eyes, you feel
his gaze into your soul. You do not understand, what was happening because you
experienced too much and cant help but only cry and ask why Jesus cant help you but
then you look again and you see is his compassionate gaze in you and remember all his
embarrassment hi intake during his period of time
You who are rich, think that all your riches in this world is not gifted, but taken. It
is not brought to you as a blessing from above. You claim the riches that its from your
hardship and not from God. For this you work harder than hard, you push yourselves to
the limit, you even push beyond the limit, to achieve the sweet life. In this Year of the
Poor, Pastors invite you, step back from your own selfishness and the pressure. Step
back, and look into the eyes of the King. His gaze penetrates through your eyes to your
heart. It is the same gaze of compassion as his gaze into the eyes of the poor. But it is
a gaze altered by your own arrogance and mistrust to Jesus. It is a gaze marked by
concern. That all your wrong doings to others will hit you back and will also be your
downfall.
But in the Year of the Poor, where so many poor are poor because of the selfish
decisions of the rich, Whatever you have done or not done to one of these the least of
your neighbors that the Lord, the Just Judge, may say to you, Depart from me, you
cursed, into the eternal fire. .
If you have trouble believing you feel, look into his eyes gazing at you from the
Cross. If that gaze, filled will love, brings you to confusion, shame and repentance in
this Year of the Poor, then consider its urgent challenge for you for he is calling for you
to help those who are in need.
God cares for the poor. God instructed Israelites to leave a portion of their
harvest for the poor and Immigrants. Similarly, the early Christian organized to share
their possessions in common, for the common good. Personal giving is incredibly
important to our discipleship. God command those who are rich in this present world not
to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope
in God who richly provides us with everything. Wealth is not to be hoarded up by
individuals, but is a gift from God to be shared generously for the common good.

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