POVERTY
United Nations: Fundamentally, poverty is the
inability of getting choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity.
It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society… not
having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go
to; not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s
living, not having access to credit… It means insecurity, powerlessness and
exclusion of individuals, households and communities… susceptibility to
violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments,
without access to clean water or sanitation.
Copenhagen Declaration: Absolute
poverty is a condition
characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe
drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and
information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social
services.
Synonyms: privation, neediness, destitution, indigence, pauperism, penury.
Antonyms: riches, wealth, plenty.
CHURCH/CHRISTIANITY:
– One of the
three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection
-
A radical way to
live out the Gospel of the Kingdom.
-
Expressing the oneness with the poor...
JESUS:
Jesus would
not have wanted this for his children. He wanted his children to enjoy the
freedom of the children of God. ‘He came to give life, life in its fullness…’
-
"The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son
of man hath
not where to lay his head" (Mt. 8:20),
-
‘Don’t carry a stick,
a tunic etc…’
-
‘Woe to you, the
rich…’
-
‘It is easier for a
camel to slip in through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom…’
-
He
was hungry and his disciples too…
-
The object of a virtue must be something honorable or praiseworthy in itself: now poverty has
no intrinsic goodness…
-
Calling this poverty would be a
mistake, as the main principle of Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism or Gandhi's teaching is to use minimum resources or giving up the greed to
consume.
- To share all in common rather than have
personal ownership of material goods.
- When so many are ignoring people who are
on the fringes of society, religious with a vow of poverty can connect with the
poor, work with them and speak about their needs and concerns.
-
Expressing the
oneness with the poor
-
Benedict
XVI distinguishes “poverty chosen” (the
poverty of spirit proposed by Jesus), and “poverty to be fought” (unjust and imposed poverty). He considers that the moderation implied in the former favors
solidarity, and is a necessary condition so as to fight effectively to
eradicate the abuse of the latter.
Poverty is the
consequence of greed. [Gandhiji]
Need to live
like the birds of the air and lilies of the field.
We really
don’t trust God, but everything else which gives us what we call ‘security’!
Poverty of the
majority, the ‘anawim of Yahweh’ compels us to be accountable, transparent etc.
Yahweh
agitates at the exploitation and the resultant poverty of his people and
promises them to take the land flowing with milk and honey, that is, plenty…
Jesus
identifies himself with the least of this brethren, the hungry, the thirsty,
the naked etc…
Our style of
life with plenty, the modern amenities, palatial churches, presbyteries etc is
an affront to the poor…
A greedy man’s
prayer can’t be heard when there is any number of needy people around…
‘The food/left
over kept for tomorrow belongs to the one who goes hungry to bed…’ St. Basil
-
‘Security’
v. vulnerability…
28.09.2013:
Temple:
1. These days
the first readings from Ezra, Haggai and Zachariah deal with the building of
the temple at Jerusalem.
Why do the
temple given so much of importance in the Old Testament? Not that Yahweh wants
a place to dwell! Rather he wants his people to come together in a sign of
brotherhood under his loving and caring fatherhood befitting his children
experiencing the warmth of one another, concerned of one another, understanding
the others needs, both material, physical, emotional and even spiritual. This is
what for a temple is needed. Yahweh must be glorified, when his people is
dignified through their enjoyment of the freedom of the children of god.
Unfortunately,
nowadays churches are built ignoring god’s people and their need for a decent
shelter! This must be an affront to the very god whom they try to please or
placate! Jesus might have meant this when he lamented of his, the son of man’s,
having nowhere to lay his head!
PP’s
Allowance:
From September
2013, the ‘allowance’ of priests in the archdiocese of Trivandrum was raised to
`7000/- from `4000/-! I
think, it is 57% increase! May be that it is not that big in the present sky
rocketing cost of living. This is besides our residence, water and electricity,
in some places, telephone facilities and health insurance.
Though they
are said to be ‘full-timers’ without having anyone to look into as to how much
time they are using for the people, like me going to the courts from 9.30 to
4.30 or so! Along with this hike, is it not advisable to have some
‘job’/service conditions?
In this
context, should we also think of the other ‘emoluments’ and ‘stipends’ and of
regularizing them. What about our evangelical counsel of poverty? It would be
beyond a priest’s ability to employ someone for cooking, cleaning and washing.
While the later two could be done by themselves, food could be arranged from
convent, if there is one, or from willing families paying them fairly.
When the
‘allowance’ of priests was hiked, should we not increase the wages/salary of
the ones working with us and for us? While doing this, it would again be
advisable to have their service conditions relooked with hours of work, weekly
leave and other rights of workers. To my understanding the daily wage of an
unskilled labor for an average 8 hours is somewhere around `400 to `500/-! That
means an average monthly salary of `10000/- or so!
In the rather
eroding credibility situations, we need to be accountable and transparent
besides being simple, honest, trustworthy and available of course.
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