God and the Poor

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. - Proverbs 14:31

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. - Proverbs 19:17

For centuries theologians have noticed the link in the Bible between God and the poor. This relationship has often been called “God’s preferential concern for the poor” which was popularized by Gustavo Gutierrez in the 1970s. Even in these short passages from Proverbs, God so identifies with the poor that to give to the poor is to lend to God and to mistreat the poor is to dishonor God. As is often the case, Jesus takes Old Testament ideas even further and plays them out in the parable of the sheep and the goats. When he mentions serving different types of poor people, he repeats the refrain: “When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me” (in Matthew 25).

Take some time with these ideas, these scriptures, and the implications they have for you. As you do so, let the great church leader (who was assassinated while celebrating mass because of his radical care for the poor) guide your thoughts. What is the Spirit bringing up to you as you ponder these words:

The degree to which we approach the poor and how we approach them – whether with love or with scorn – determines how we approach God. What we do to the poor, we do also to God. The way we look at them is the way we look at God. God has so desired to be identified with them that the merits of each one of us and of our society will be measured by the way we treat the needy and the poor.

- Archbishop Oscar Romero