Who Wants To Be Poor 誰願貧窮?

Fourth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: Who Wants To Be Poor 誰願貧窮?

Five years ago at the Feast of St. Joseph when Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Exhortation to discuss the call to holiness in today’s world, he chose the last verse of the Beatitudes as its title “Gaudete et Exsultate Rejoice and be glad” (Matthew 5:12a). In the document, the Pope says, “Ipsae sunt veluti testimonium identitatis christiani The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card” (GE #63). Then he spends a whole chapter explaining the Beatitudes one by one, each of which is a path to sanctification. Thus nobody can say too much about the importance of the Beatitudes for Christians. After two millennia, has the world become an easier place for Christians to practise the Beatitudes? It is regrettably a categorical no. The Pope admits, “They clearly run counter to the way things are usually done in our world” (#65). Perhaps being so is a blessing in disguise! Who on earth wants to be poor, to be pushed around, to mourn and to suffer persecutions?

We are living in a post-industrial society whose mode of production has not changed much from that of industrial societies. We still must go through the production-distribution-consumption procedure. Economy of scale still works. Therefore, in order to be productively efficient, producers tend to over-produce to save costs. When supply overtakes demand, prices will fall. The savings in production costs would be written off. In order not to earn less, producers work hard not only to produce more but also to increase or create demands which might not at all be essential for our survival! Thus an advertisement industry emerges on the scene to encourage conspicuous consumptions which satisfy the ego only. GDP increases, workers’ income increases and they increase spending. Everybody is making money, spending money and happy!

Who then are the enemies of producers, and thus the society? The poor consumers who have no money to buy goods! Not only will they be hated by producers, but also the society in general! It is because the value of a person is measured by how much he is able to contribute to the GDP of the society. Why are you poor? Unlike life in an agricultural society in which only lazy people were poor, in an industrial society, a poor person is one who possesses low-end skills which do not increase GDP! Just think about it. In ancient times, the literary works of poets, paintings of artists and music of composers were in great demand among the aristocrats because not only did those commodities uplift the souls but they also boosted the patrons’ fame. However, in post-industrial societies, writing computer programs earns more than writing poems. Many a pragmatic poet would learn to write software which helps users write better business letters if he did not want his family members to starve.

What if you become really poor in the post-industrial society? You live on social-welfare. You are turned into a social security number and an eye-sore to those who happen to know you. You feel worthless because nobody in the society will affirm your poetic talents. You don’t expect the luxury of dignity. Your voice will not be heard … Of course, you don’t need to buy the value-system of such a society. Yet, you feel unfulfilled because you have nowhere to publish or no audience to listen to your poem recitals! What kind of life is this? Though Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit …” (Matthew 5:3), however convincingly scholars interpret “in spirit”, frankly who wants to be poor? The society we’re living in does not work in this manner!

On the other hand, economists have to admit that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Every piece of goods carries a price. When we turn the underbelly of economic prosperity over, we’ll find a lot of contaminations to the very habitat we’re living in; corruptions among the powerful and exploitations of the poor cum the vulnerable. Prices have to be paid and injustice arises when prices are not paid by the perpetuators but by handy scapegoats. Who would be the scapegoats? Immediately, people who are living downstream physically, socially or temporally come to mind. They are the poor and the disadvantaged in the society, the poets-turned-scavengers and their children! By the time the ripples of contaminations, corruptions and exploitations reach the powerful and the wealthy, all of them have been gone a long time ago! In short, they don’t have any incentive to take any preventive measures because it will reduce their profits! So once again, who wants to be poor to bear the brunt of greed of the powerful and wealthy in the society?

The Poet of Old gave our poor this piece of consolation, “Put no trust in princes, in children of Adam powerless to save. Who breathing his last returns to the earth; that day all his planning comes to nothing” (Psalms 146:3-4). Even the powerful with a good heart are unable to solve the problems created by greed because greed is beyond their power to overcome within their life time! So “Scientia potestas est Knowledge is power” could at most be a half-truth only because the carriers of power are unable to last forever. The Poet’s son went even further, “The wise person will have no more abiding remembrance than the fool; for in days to come both will have been forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies like the fool” (Ecclesiastes 2:16)! Death is indifferent. It embraces all, even the Son of Man!

If we are able to learn anything from the recent COVID pandemic, we now know that not only is death indifferent, but the deadly virus is also ubiquitous. The poor and vulnerable might fall first but the powerful and the rich would only sustain a painful longer! Suddenly, the powerful as well as the wealthy realize that they are riding the same boat with the poor and disadvantaged. So, let’s put away the contrast between poverty and wealth, power and weakness, masters and slaves etc. for a while and look from the other end of the tunnel, the great equalizer of death! In the end, when we all return to our Creator, what counts more significantly? Knowledge and power, wealth and authority? The consolation of the Poet of Old continues, “Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord … secures justice for the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry … The Lord shall reign forever, your God, Zion, through all generations! Hallelujah!” (Psalms 146:5-10).

Brethren! Let our souls dance in tune with the Poet’s rhymes BECAUSE everything else fails to deliver. It doesn’t matter whether we are poor in spirit or in material. As long as we hope in the Lord and have the God of Jacob as our liberator, we belong to Him. His justice will prevail when we are pushed around and being persecuted. He’ll feed us and satisfy whatever our hunger is. He sets us free from our own obsessions and bondages imposed by the others. He gives sight for us to know the truth to free us (John 8:32) … In the end, “To be, or not to be, that is NOT the question”. “With God, or without God, that’s the question” because to live without God or to die without God are both deplorable! Our God created this known universe. Are we with Him? But the powerful and the proud choose to protest and plot against the Lord (Psalms 2:1-2). Are we with them?
Our Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Amen, alleluia!
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: chubaoyolu.org