2nd day

Jesus, the poor Messiah

Jesus, the Son of God, chose to be incarnated among the poorest. Pope Leo XIV reminds us, ‘‘Jesus was born in   humble circumstances, from his birth he was laid in a   manger, and very soon, to save him from death, his parents fled to Egypt. At the beginning of his public life, he was driven out of Nazareth after having proclaimed, in the synagogue, through Him, the fulfillment of the year of grace in which the poor rejoice. There is no welcoming place, even for his death: They led him out of Jerusalem to crucify him. It is in this context that the poverty of Jesus can be clearly summarized. This is the same exclusion that characterizes the definition of the poor: they are the excluded of the society’’[1]. 

Eugénie, in her Diary, evokes this call from Jesus to dedicate oneself to the most abandoned of our societies, to the very end: ‘‘I heard the call of God and through Him the cry of your poor abandoned souls. No, world and demon it’s all useless, your efforts, your pains, I will remain faithful to my vocation with the grace of God!’’ Cf. Sister Eugénie Caps’ Diary, 24th June 1921.

Prayer to be said together

Lord, give us your spirit of surrender so that we may place ourselves completely in your care, and learn from you, to be close to those who are disregarded, marginalized, despised, wherever we are.

[1] ‘‘I have loved you’’, Dilexi te, Apostolic Exhortation on love to the poorest, Pope Leo XIV, 2025, n°19.