THE SITUATION OF THE POOR HAS A LOT TO DO WITH US

        Through the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the gospel calls attention to a harsh reality: the great inequality between people. The Church in Latin America has already denounced, in the 80 years: “The unjust structures have generated rich getting richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer.” This situation is totally disapproved by God that, in his goodness, sends rain on the just and unjust, good and evil so that what he did for all should be available to all. Mary's song witnesses very well this reality in an explosion of joy for the way of God’s act, putting on the same level those who are inferior so that they can live together on equal terms.” At the end, there should be neither winners nor losers, but brothers and sisters with equal rights and dignity.

        God identifies with the plight of the weak and poor. Every injustice done to them reaches the image of God present in them. In eternal life, the situation is reversed, proving that God never abandons those who trust in him. Who uses what he has to despise others throw his life in the trash, because life does not consist in the abundance of ​​goods, but the ability to do well. As said, wisely, St. John Calabria: "The poor are there so that the rich can be saved."

        The Lent season reminds us that the situation of the poor has a lot to do with us, because the social sin is the result of an accumulation of personal sins. Therefore, it is necessary the conversion not only of personal sins, but also to assume the responsibility for social sins, which is part of our “reparation mission”. It is necessary to pass from the style of life of lavish, based sometimes on indifference, to a more simple lifestyle which satisfied with little, and which sympathizes with those who have nothing. God saves us by love, but highly values ​​our gestures, as Pope Benedict XVI expressed in one of his letters, for Lent: “In fact, the salvation is a gift, it is God's grace, but to have effect in my existence it requires my consent, an acceptance demonstrated in deeds, that is, in the will to live like Jesus, to walk after him.”

Pe. Degaaxé

Revisão do inglês: brother Cipriano