3rd day  

Commitment to the poorest

We are called to recognize the living Christ in the most abandoned and rejected ones in our societies. ‘‘From the very beginnings of the Church, deacons were ordained to serve the poorest, the Diakonia’’[1]. Cf. Acts 6, 1-5. Then the Fathers of the Church recognized in the poor a privileged means of accessing God, a particular way of meeting Him. The Saints too recognize the face of Christ in the most destitute. ‘‘For Saint Augustin, the poor are not merely people to be helped, but the sacramental presence of the Lord’’[2]. Mother Teresa expressed it in other words: We must love the poor because   Jesus hides Himself in the guise of the poor. Our mission is a mission of love and kindness’’[3].

In the introduction to Our Spiritan Life, the commitment to the poor is clearly stated, as a priority: ‘‘Here are the main axes of our religious missionary vocation: the apostolic life which is nothing less than the life of love of the Son of God, in the service of the poorest’’. Cf. Our Spiritan Life, page 5.

Prayer to be said together

Lord, following the example of our Elders in the faith, grant us your spirit of wisdom, to become aware that we too are poor among the poor, and to walk with them in the joy of service.

[1] Dilexi te, Apostolic Exhortation on love to the poorest, Pope Leo XIV, 2025 n° 37

[2] Idem, n°44.

[3] Mother Teresa’s prayer – Quote n°47212 et 47213, Site https://www

   Site https://www.dicocitations.com/reference_citation/116905/priere_de_mere_teresa.php.