Church in the Philippines begins Year of the Poor
December 02, 2014
With the beginning of the new liturgical year, the Church in the Philippines commemorates a Year of the Poor-- the third of a novena of years in preparation for the 500th anniversary of Gospel’s arrival there.
“Behold Jesus, poor,” the president of the bishops’ conference said in a statement opening the year. “No image of Jesus, poor, surpasses this one. Jesus hangs from his Cross stripped of his clothes, his dignity, his possessions, his power, his strength.”
“He is fully one with the unwashed, the oppressed, the scorned, the powerless, the miserable, the outcast,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas continued. “In the Year of the Poor, look into the eyes of the crucified Lord. There is no experience richer.”
The prelate had strong words for those who have acquired wealth by taking advantage of the poor.
“Where so many poor are poor because of your decisions, [Christ] also reminds you that [your] concern with your humungous investments, your corporate takeovers, your capture of political power, and your fine reputations to the detriment or negligence of the poor may have serious consequences,” he said. “Whatever you have done or not done to one of these the least of my brothers and sisters, that you have done or not done to me.”
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