Poverty 5 relationship between poverty and apostolate

Poverty and apostolate


In order to understand the relationship between poverty and apostolate we should clarify a few points.

Jesus tells us to take care of the poor. All through the Gospel we see that Jesus helps the poor and encourages his disciples to do the same.
The aim of the apostolate is the total redemption of the person.

Apostolate is a community matter.

Nowadays all the religious congregations speak about the poor and claim to be at the service of the poor. We have to avoid two temptations:
- To remain at a generic idealistic level. We are called to solve the problems of concrete people, problems which very often do not fit in our schemes and ideals.
- To use our charity work as an instrument to boast and to increase our prestige. Usually we tend to do those works which can be seen, which will appear in newspapers, which can make us famous and, eventually, will attract donations. We should instead look for those situations which are less visible, less attractive, and may be more difficult.

We have the tendency to create big works, well organized, and neglect those places where organization is not possible. Sometimes big works could become a contradiction. We have the example of missionaries who opened big hospitals, equipped with the latest technology in very poor places. As long as the missionary has been there and brought money from Europe, the hospital had gone well. When the missionary has been transferred to a different place, the hospital broke down because of lack of funds and lack of management skills. We have also examples of priests who would rather leave the Congregation than accept a transfer to a different place.
The aim of the apostolate is the total redemption of the poor. The external aspects of poverty (sickness, lack of food, need of school, etc.) which bring people to us, are only a small part of the problem. Of course they are important and we should address them properly, in fact they can be the best place in which we can discover the voice of God. But we should remember that a person needs first and foremost God, and so the spiritual side should always be present. We can say that we do Evangelization through human promotion.
Furthermore, little by little, we should go to the roots of poverty, and, as John Paul II would say, change the structures of iniquity (political corruption, greed, exploitation, etc.) that create such situations of poverty.
One temptation in which those who work among the poor sometimes fall is that of transforming the social work into an instrument for violence. It is what the communist call class warfare. According to those people, the problem of poverty will never be solved unless we physically fight against the rich, and, if necessary, even kill them. This theory was mainly developed by some radical members of the so called Theology of liberation. They say that God himself killed many Egyptians in order to free the people of Israel. These people forget about the teaching of Jesus and the commandment of love (love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you).
Another thing we should remember is that we should give to the poor not only bread, but also voice, and the power to choose for their future. We should not patronize them but set them free.
Finally the contact with the poor should transform us, make us more merciful, understanding, and also more simple and poor.