Au In the beginning was the Word
 

1. The Gospel is neither abstract nor neutral. Where there is poverty, misery or oppression, there is also Word of Liberation. As that day in Nazareth synagogue: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim liberty for captives and sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of grace." (Lk 4, 18-19). What was announced by Isaiah prophet is fulfilled: "The poor will again find joy in the Lord, and the poorest men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel" (Is 29, 19). The evangelization of Jesus presents, as a guarantee of authenticity, this hopeful sign: "The poor have the good news proclaimed to them" (Mt 11,5).

2. Poverty is a constant fact of human experience .A poor man is oppressed by the weight of a current or permanent misery: hunger, disease, ignorance, injustice, tyranny. The poor, often forgotten everywhere, raise questions that are vivid and universal, such as food, health, jobs, housing, education, justice, freedom. In our world, with a population of around 5.700 million people, there are 500 million hungry people, 1.700 million with a life expectancy of less than 60 years; 1.500 million jobless; 1.000 million illiterate; 2.000 million with no drinkable water; 500 million handicapped, 100 million homeless; 28 million refugees. 3. In the Bible, poverty is an evil that has to be combatted amidst a fraternal land: "The needy will never be lacking in the land, that is why I command you to open your hand to your poor and needy in your country"(Dt 15,11). Poverty is bad in itself; it is a living sign of man’s sin. The poor shout out that the world does not respond to God´s project. It is true that misery can be fruit of laziness (Prv 6, 6-11), or disorder (13,18), but it is also true that many poor people are victims of the injustice of powerful men who take advantage of their power to exploit them. These poor people find in the prophets their very true defenders. 4. Prophets denounce scandalous differences between rich and poor, the oppression suffered by the weak, the rapacity of the powerful, the tyranny of the creditor without feeling, the fraud of merchants, the venality of the judges, the greediness of the priests and false prophets. The prophets announce that a society like this cannot survive. As prophet Micah says, " Woe to those who plan iniquity, who plot evil in their beds and carry it out it in the morning light when it lies within their power. They covet fields and seize them, houses and take them; they cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance"(Mi 2,1-2; to see 3,11-12; Is 3, 15 and 5,8; Am 2, 6-8; 8, 4-6). 5. John the Baptist does not demand special ascetic practices. He calls to conversion those who are considered true believers: "Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves : we have Abraham as our father" (Lk 3,8). To the question about what then should we do? (3,10), he answers: you should share (3,11), avoid abuses (3,13), do not take advantage of power (3,14). 6. The Gospel announced by Jesus erupts amidst an enslaved land, in darkness, in need of redemption. It is good news for the poor, the multitude subdued by the powerful few (Mt 20, 25). According to God´s project, the poor must cease to be poor; to achieve that, people must share (Jn 6, 1-15); practice brotherly love and love of neighbour (Lk 10, 25-37). There should be no needy person. (Acts 4,34). Understandably, therefore, they receive the Gospel as good news, "Blessed are you who are poor for the Kingdom of God is yours" (Lk 6,20). The kingdom of God is not only an economic and social condition, it implies also an interior disposition and attitude of the soul: Blessed are the poor in spirit (Mt 5, 3). 7. If the Gospel is good news to the poor, it is, understandably, bad news to the rich. "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! (Lk 18,24). And also,"But woe to you who are rich!, for you have received your consolation" (Lk 6,24). There must be a choice between God and money (Mt 6,24). 8. The Gospel does not take the side of money and power. Between the multitude and the powerful, Jesus choose the troubled and abandoned multitude (Mt 9,36). Mary sings it in the Magnificat: "He has thrown down the rules from their thrones but lifted up the lowly" (Lk 1, 52). The Powerful feel themselves threatened by the dissemination of the Gospel, they are afraid that the political agreement established with the Empire would be broken (see Jn 11,48). Powerful men persecute Jesus and finally crucify him (Mt 27, 37). Nevertheless, The Gospel is kidnapped by dominant classes to establish an agreement between power and Christian churches. 9. Certainly, the Gospel announced to the poor supposes a challenge that questions the disciples and leads them to ask themselves: Then, who can be saved?, a challenge that at the same time leads us to understand the free gift of salvation, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God, all things are possible for God" (Mk 10, 23-27). 10. Let us see the experience of Bartolomé de las Casas. Bartolomé arrives in America in April, 15, 1502, nine years after the discovery and he shares with Ovando the violent conquest of the "Taínos" Indians. He becomes priest in 1511. In 1523 he enters the Dominican order. From January 1513 he participates with Pánfilo de Narváez in the conquest of the island of Cuba, where Christian European domination is imposed by "blood and fire". 11. Following the "repartimiento" labour system, Bartolomé receives an Indian group that works for him. As an accomplice in violence he becomes also an accomplice in exploitation. Bartolomé de las Casas, the priest, he writes about himself, was very busy and very occupied with his farms, as were others, sending Indians by "repartimiento" to mines, to extract gold and plant seeds, and taking advantage of them as much as possible. 12. Everything seems to be under control until a quite normal event throws all into question: Diego Velázquez arrives, and as there were no priests or friars in all the island, he asks Bartolomé to celebrate Mass and predicate the Gospel. It was Pentecost holiday , year 1514. It so happened that Bartolomé began to reflect deeply on some authoritative words of the Holy Bible. He found a passage of Sirach (34,18-22 ) that astonished him: "Tainted are the gifts of those who offer in sacrifice ill-gotten goods! False presents from the lawless do not win Good’s favour. The Most High does not approve of gifts of the godless, nor for their many sacrifices does he forgive their sins. Like the man who slays a son in his father’s presence is he who offers sacrifice from the possessions of the poor. The bread of charity is life itself for the needy: he who withholds it is a man of blood. He kills his neighbor who deprives him of his living, he who denies a labour his wages, sheds his blood. 13. Bartolomé could not celebrate Mass. Applying one (Bible text) to the other (misery and servitude that were suffering this people) he declared to himself, convinced by the very truth, that all treatment of the Indians of this India was unjust and tyrannical. Therefore, he freed his Indians (he decided to let them all go) and began his prophetic preaching, first in Cuba, and then in Santo Domingo, later in Spain and afterwards in all the Indian realms, leaving everyone wondering and even alarmed at what he said to them. That passage of Sirah has impressive strength.   14. The Catholic Church, especially, must be the Church of the poor (John XXIII ). Vatican Council II states: While one immense crowd is in want of what is strictly necessary, some... live in opulence or waste without consideration (Gs 63). To satisfy the claims of justice it is necessary to eliminate the enormous social differences (GS 66). A question arises: What must we do?