#daridranarayan

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Whoever mocks the poor reviles their Maker; whoever rejoices in their misfortune will not go unpunished. לֹעֵ֣ג לָ֭רָשׁ חֵרֵ֣ף עֹשֵׂ֑הוּ שָׂמֵ֥חַ לְ֝אֵ֗יד לֹ֣א יִנָּקֶֽה

The Book of Proverbs (17:5)

The Singing Beggars, by Ivan Yermenyov, circa 1770

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Icon of Dorothy Day with Homeless Christ, by Kelly Latimore

Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor. The same Jesus who tells us, “The poor you will always have with you” (Mt 26:11), also promises the disciples: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). We likewise think of his saying: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). This is not a matter of mere human kindness but a revelation: contact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history. In the poor, he continues to speak to us.

Pope Leo XIV (Dilexi te, §5)

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From the first centuries, the Fathers of the Church recognized in the poor a privileged way to reach God, a special way to meet him. Charity shown to those in need was not only seen as a moral virtue, but a concrete expression of faith in the incarnate Word. The community of the faithful, sustained by the strength of the Holy Spirit, was rooted in being close to the poor […] This demonstrates that the nascent Church did not separate belief from social action: faith without witness through concrete actions was considered dead, as Saint James taught us (cf. 2:17).

Pope Leo XIV (Dilexi te, §39a, 40d)

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It's easy to sympathize with the poor when they're just some sentimentalized group out there that you never really fully encounter. But what about the widow next door who has been, maybe, rude to you on occasion? Does she deserve your help? What about the drug-addicted cousin who is living in pretty desperate economic situations? Jesus didn't tell us to "love the poor"; He told us to love our neighbor. He told us to focus our attention on the people right next to us, with all of their faults laid open.

Brian Holdsworth

[apenitentialprayer]

Okay, this has been percolating for a few months now, and it's still not a fully fleshed out idea, but inspired by the publication of Dilexi te (though I am only about halfway through it), and challenged by Pope Leo XIV's assertion that "the Church is fully the Bride of the Lord when She is also the sister of the poor," and compelled by Saint Camillus de Lellis's exhortation that we should "ask the Lord for a motherly affection for our neighbor,"..... .... I am going to propose what I am currently calling the Consorority of Louis IX (but men can join too). What I am imagining is a spiritual association modeled along the lines of the Dominican confraternities, an association of lay and religious with a focus on service to and friendship with the poor in a specifically Franciscan mode. Such an organization, should it actually be formed and approved, would entail that its members pray for each other and for the people that they serve; that the members of the consorority be open to being evangelized by God in the people they serve, and that those whom the consorority serve come to greater knowledge of the God who loves them and bears their sufferings and sorrows. I think that it may be a good idea to search through the Franciscan tradition to find a short prayer oriented towards that purpose that can be memorized and recited daily by the association's members (the Memorare is one possibility). The main duty of members of the consorority would be providing a meal for a member of their geographic community; supplying money equivalent to a meal or straight up giving the meal would fulfill the obligation, but keeping in mind that this is an opportunity to encounter "the sacramental presence of the Lord" in the Other, ideally this would involve sitting down and eating with the person, in order that this be a real encounter with a person and not just an obligation to be ticked off as fulfilled. Like the original Confraternity of the Rosary, membership of the consorority could be "tiered" in the intensity of the duty; one could promise to do this monthly, weekly, or (though this is certainly outside my own means) daily. And, like the Dominican confraternities, failure to meet this duty would not incur penalty of sin. This duty is inspired by the titular saint of the proposed consorority, who as a devotional practice used to serve the poor at table and ate from their leftovers. In keeping with the Franciscan charism, it may be good to court the Poor Clares to see if they would be willing to take up recording membership and electing a Promoter-General for the consorority from among their own members. This is just an idea, but something that may be worth pursuing.

[apenitentialprayer]

Ubi dolor, ibi Christus

[apenitentialprayer]

Pray for us, Saint Francis, that we may honor you by imitating your example. Help us to see Christ in every person we meet, especially those we find most difficult to love. Amen.

January prayer for the 800th Anniversary Year of Saint Francis of Assisi's death; by the Franciscan Mission Associates

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[T]he faithful will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if they visit, for an appropriate amount of time, their brothers and sisters who are in need or in difficulty (the sick, prisoners, lonely elderly people, disabled people…), in a sense making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them (cf. Mt 25, 34-36) according to the usual spiritual, sacramental and prayer conditions. The faithful can repeat these visits throughout the Holy Year, even daily, acquiring a plenary indulgence each time.

Pope Francis (Decree on the Granting of Indulgences during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025)