What can be good news to the poor?

More than seven decades ago, WW2 was raging. Many people were killed and starved to death. Therefore, for the many of us who are not yet seventy and are used to living in the post-war prosperity, it is difficult for us to imagine the reality of poverty or what it is like to starve to death. The nearest we can get are images of starvation splashed across TV screens. They look real enough yet they do not touch us. Starvation in real life is just too far away to be able to touch us. So, when we heard of the prophecy of Isaiah today that
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor (Luke 4:18),
I am sure very few of us would know what good news can we preach to the poor.

When we look at the life of Jesus, we do not see how he has solved the problem of poverty. Throughout his life, he has never been rich. He was born in poverty. He grew up as a son of a carpenter. When the Devil tempted him to work miracles to solve the problem of hunger/poverty, he refused (Luke 4:2-4). It seems that Jesus has no intention to deal with the problem of poverty. In fact, he once said that
For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me (Mark 14:7).
Jesus seemed to suggest that the problem of poverty will always stay with us. We can do good to the poor, but we cannot eradicate poverty. We will always have to learn to live with it. Elsewhere, Jesus said that the rich will become richer and the poor poorer.
For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Mark 4:25).
Jesus seems to condone structural poverty. Of course, it is only one of the many interpretations we can read into the text. No matter what, ever since 19^th century, the Catholic Church has made it her mission to opt for the poor. So, what good news can we tell the poor? That somehow, God will send somebody to take care of them?
Yes, it seems to be Jesus' modus operandi. He did not reject rich people. He made friends and dined with them. He encouraged the rich young man and all potential followers to sell all they had and give the proceeds to the poor. To encourage his followers to help the needy, Jesus tells them that when they serve the poor, they are in fact serving him. That explains why Christians of the early Church gave up their property to the Church to share among all. Jesus did not set up any committee to study the problem of poverty. He did not design any structural changes in the society to prevent exploitation of the poor. He only invites each and everyone of us to offer a helping hand to the needy on an individual basis. Obviously, this does not work in modern society. Policy makers need to design social structures that guarantee distributive justice in the society.

Dear Lord, I pray that wisdom and compassion be granted to policy makers to make our society a better place to live in. Amen.