Let Us Hear the Cry of the Poor 

Sirach 35: 12-18 tells us, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds… [and] the Most High responds….” Based on what we see, we may doubt this.  

The Responsorial Psalm says, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” But do we see God coming to rescue the sick and starving, the victims of genocide in Africa and the Sudan, and the dispossessed Palestinians in Israel? Does God stop the bombs in mid-air or smite invading army patrols when a village cries out for his protection? Does the Lord truly “hear the cry of the poor”

No, he does not stop oppressors (usually), but yes, the Psalm is true:  

The Lord confronts the evildoers to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. 

The question is “When and how?” 

In 2Timothy 4: 6-18, Paul breaks us out of the narrow timeframe in which we unthinkingly enclose ourselves. We want to measure God’s “response time” in minutes or months. Why not millennia? God is not limited to the timeframe of our lives on earth. He has made us sharers in his own life, which lasts for all eternity. So “when the just cry out,” the Lord answers in their lifetime. But that gives him all eternity to work with!  

Paul wrote Timothy from imprisonment in Rome that he felt abandoned by his fellow Christians: “At the first hearing of my case in court, no one took my part. In fact, everyone abandoned me.” But he declared, “The Lord stood by my side…. That is how I was ‘saved from the lion’s jaws.” And he went on to profess his faith and hope: “The Lord will continue to rescue me from all attempts to do me harm….” 

Shortly thereafter, the Romans condemned Paul to death and beheaded him! Was that how God “rescued him from all attempts to do him harm”? 

Yes. Paul’s next words were, “…and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever.” Obviously, Paul didn’t think that anyone who killed him would “do him harm.” In this, he was echoing Jesus, who told his disciples: “Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more…They will put some of you to death…. But not a hair on your head will be destroyed.” Paul’s perspective, like that of every Christian, extended to include the “end time.” 

The Church places us in the “end time” during the rite of Communion at every Mass. When the presider lifts the host and declares, “This is the Lamb of God, happy are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb,” the Church is defiantly proclaiming, “Happy are those who are going to die! To die is to arrive at the wedding banquet.” Just as the crucifixion of Jesus was a triumph only in the light of his resurrection, in the same way, it is only from the perspective of the “end time” that we can say with credibility, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.” But since we live in our time, we must hear that cry now. 

Insight: Am I, as a steward of Christ’s kingship, hearing the cry of the poor? 

Initiative: Pay attention to the causes of evil in our society. Do something about them. 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #150, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.