From today’s Scripture: “He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor.”—Ps 72:4

In his recent teaching on the Church’s care for the poor, Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV states, “Love for the Lord…is one with love for the poor…[C]ontact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history.”

This Gospel truth reflects Jesus’ Matthew 25 parable of the sheep and the goats. And it is at the heart of Glenmary’s outreach to people in need in the rural South.

Pope Leo says that “the poor have much to teach us about the Gospel and its demands.” In this new year, how might we all go out of our way to encounter, serve, and defend our brothers and sisters who are poor and powerless?

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, help me to recognize you in those most in need.

Today’s author is Polly Duncan Collum, former parish lay missioner and now director of Glenmary’s Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.

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