Mary Thorne reflects on the challenge we have as community to listen to the cry of the poor and respond.

Deeply embedded in the psyche of most humans is an impulse to care for the hurt and vulnerable of both our own kind and other creatures.

We of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition believe in a God who requires us to prioritise the love and care of the poor in our society. We are taught that we have a serious responsibility to participate in this work because those who suffer or are oppressed are especially cherished in the heart of God.

I feel sure this is also part of the belief of the other faith traditions of the world. I have seen the work done by Muslim, Buddhist and Sikh communities to address needs in my own area.

God Hears the Poor

God hears the cry of the poor. This hearing involves a deep awareness, compassion and action in response.

The “poor” are certainly those who are economically disadvantaged — and the gap between the financially secure and those who struggle to live, week by week, continues to widen. Efforts to achieve a more just society continue to be an integral part of a Christian life.

But also “poor” and beloved by God, are those whose lives are diminished by many sorts of suffering and in 2022 the Earth, herself, is suffering abuse and degradation.

Developing a Genuine Response

In many areas of our lives, familiarity lessens urgency and from early days we are encouraged to develop the practice of giving. Donations are necessary and good to help social need but they can become habitual and perfunctory.

A real danger of superiority can creep into our attitude if we veer towards giving from our secure and comfortable lives to “help” others who are not like us. This sort of charity can do more harm than good.

We help in a more holistic way when we develop strong bonds of connection which enable us to feel that the pain, distress and need in any part of our community is, in fact, our own pain and distress and our own resources must be shared to assist in the healing.

It's hard to do this. I can identify in my own thinking an almost unlimited capacity to justify my own self-serving behaviours.

But I can also hear an increasing chorus of voices from around the world telling of a critical moment in the story of our planet. The voices speak of our intimate connection with every atom of created matter and with God who created all.

Creation expresses the Creator; it is an outward expression of God’s love and grace. Prominent among these voices is theologian, scientist and Franciscan Ilia Delio who draws extensively on the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Pope Francis.

Everything Exists in God

A new picture of the relationship between God and all of God’s creation is emerging in my mind.

This picture draws on the “New Maths” that was introduced into Aotearoa’s primary school classrooms in the 1970s. Children were helped to develop an understanding of mathematics that more closely related to their experience of the world. Although well past childhood, I can remember learning about the venn diagram.

In my venn diagram of life, our God who is Love, the power and energy that births and drives the universe, is represented by a large circular shape and all created reality is depicted as a sub-set inside that reality.

God is life itself. We exist in God and God is in every atom of matter. God is mystery — utterly bigger and beyond us but we are in God. Yes, God hears the cry of the poor: our pain is God’s pain.

Paul’s beautiful image of the Church as the Body of Christ is extended to include all created reality as one organism, functioning and evolving. The new scientific story of the universe stretches and enriches our understanding of God and Jesus, as God with us, offering us wondrous, challenging, relevant ways to be people of faith in 2022.

Cry of Poor Is Our Cry

What does this have to do with the challenge to the community posed by the cry of the poor?

The movement of humankind from warring clans and tribes towards cooperating cohabitors of a beautiful, fragile planet is well underway. The connectedness and interdependence of all of creation is becoming better understood.

We are recognising the need to foster unity and deepen belonging in order to protect the well-being of our communities.

We are more inclined to respect difference and share power. We are learning more about the communal, systemic nature of discrimination and oppression.

We are beginning to know that the cry of the poor is our own cry. The body, of which we are all part, is experiencing pain. Despite our glorious diversity, there is no more “them and us”; action in response is not an optional extra.

Below the surface of the economic disadvantage of the poor are the historic wrongs of colonisation, capitalism and prejudice. Many individuals lead lives scarred by negativity and we sometimes feel that there is little we can do.

As well as the life-sustaining social support given by very many individuals and groups, there is the potential for the common body to hold tenderly and to speak hope, healing mercy, inclusion, belonging and compassion into pain wherever it occurs. We cannot ignore that which we love.

Participate in Healing

In order to assist the healing of the world we have to remake ourselves. Unlike the disciples on the road to Emmaus, our hearts have long since ceased to burn within us, passionate with love for the Word of God and the matter of God’s creation, of which we are part. So many of us feel disconnected and disillusioned with an institution whose beliefs and practices seem stuck in some distant past.

Only the dynamism and fire of a renewed, relevant faith which welcomes scientific discoveries and understands the power of technological advancement will speak to our times.

Engage with One Another

Our consumer culture entices us to add more and more into our lives rather than simplifying and shedding belongings.

It is only by letting go much of what we think we value, including all our self-promotion, negative judgements and compulsive

acquisitiveness, that we can begin to experience the abundant life in which we are immersed.

The chorus of new theological voices invites us to engage and explore renewed and deeper ways of being people of faith. It is an evolutionary path towards wholeness on which some thinking has to be relinquished for new understanding to be born.

We are called to reach out across dividing barriers to speak to others. We need one another. We belong together.

Only then will we overcome our suspicions, anxieties and fears.

We will be humble and free to be open and generous and better able to eliminate poverty and restore the hope of the poor.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 268 March 2022: 4-5