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rich.

YEAR OF THE POOR LOGO

CRUCIFIX: The Crucified Lord, the center of all our engage-ment with, in, for and to the poor, gazing into us. On His Cross, Jesus is always with us stripped of His clothes, His dignity, His possessions, His power, His strength. By the poverty, Jesus saved us. He is fully with the unwashed, the oppressed, the scorned, the powerless, the miserable and the outcast. Jesus is

calling us to SEE everyone as His beloveds to look at each other the way He gazes into us.

The Man Colored in Red: Red symbolizes Blood sacrifice of Christ to give Life of Redemption. We are reminded that our strength and passion must always be towards Life Giving sharing of Love

The Man coloured in Red is lower than the Man coloured in Blue, signifies the last, least and the lost the poor. Though in poverty, the poor has same digni-ty with the Man coloured in Blue and also has the capacity to share Life and Love (No one is so poor that he cannot give)

The Man Coloured in Blue: Blue symbolizes Royalty, of riches and Service to God and godly living. It also signifies Light Hope. We are reminded that God in His Royalty gives us the perfect model of Service. And all of us are called to Serve God through our neighbours. We must be the Light to others.

The Man Coloured in Blue is higher (elevated) than of the Man coloured in Red, represents those who are well-off, the powerful. Yet in their abundance the rich are reminded that all what they have are coming from God and they are commanded to share and to be generous an act of gratefulness to the giver of graces God. The rich are being challenged to share their gifts es-pecially to the poor. (the more you have, the more is expected from you.)

Man coloured in Red and Blue LOOKING UP TO JESUS that forms a heart symbolizes peoples compassion to follow Jesus and the commitment to be in solidarity with all to DO JUSTICE AND LOVE KINDNESS (Micah 6:8). Jus-tice as the right relationships restoration of what is due to all, not only of the majority It challenges us to be in correct relationship with God and our neighbour. Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God.

You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor

defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. Lev. 19:15

Thank you and may God bless you...

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And the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Lk 22:61) THE GAZE OF THE CRUCIFIED LORD

Love and Compassion, Forgiveness and Challenge CBCP Message

Opening of the Year of the Poor 2015 SUMMARY POINTS

Introduction When you gaze into the eyes of the Crucified Lord, and he gazes into

yours, you encounter the love of the Resurrected Lord. Many pre-fer not to look.

These are not the eyes of a defeated man, condemned for criminal insurrection. They are the eyes of an unlikely King, who in dealing death its death blow, still looks into our eyes with challenge.

In His love is His call to the Kingdom of His Father, His Kingdom of justice, compassion, peace and life to the full.

No image of Jesus, poor, surpasses this one: Jesus hangs from His Cross stripped of His clothes, His dignity, His possessions, His power, His strength. There is no experience richer.

You who are poor From His Cross, he walks with you. He has taken on your nakedness,

your vulnerability, your hunger, your illness, your shame. You were once grateful for the backbreaking work you finally found;

your work continues to break your back, and bend you. You pray. You cry out for mercy. You look into the eyes of your cruci-

fied King. You feel His gaze into your soul. You do not understand. Why the persisting message like a mantra in the sign of the Cross: I have come to bring life, and bring life to the full, and, Blessed are you who are poor.... Blessed are you who hunger now... Blessed are you when men hate you...

Why His silent acceptance of abuse, hatred, rejection, oppression and death in rejection of yours? Whatever you do for this poor person, that you do for me. Whatever you do not do for this poor

person, that you do not do for me? For the answers to these ques-tions, look into His eyes, and search within.

You who are weary All you who labor and are heavily burdened, we your Pastors invite

you, as Jesus himself did, come to Jesus. Come to me, Jesus said, and I will give you rest. To you also Jesus has said, I have come to give life, and to give it to the full.

You labor on in love. You work on, hoping your sacrifice will bring the full life that Jesus brings. Whenever you can, you pray. You

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4. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES Human dignity can only be protected if all human rights are protected

and responsibilities of all human beings are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to the basic needs of

life. The Catholic Church teaches that every person has a duty and responsibility to help fulfill these rights for one another, for our

families, and for the larger society. 5. OPTION FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE This world is shaped by the division between growing prosperity for

some and poverty for others. The Catholic Church proclaims that the basic moral test of a society is how the most vulnerable mem-

bers are faring. 6. THE DIGNITY OF WORK AND THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing

participation in Gods creation. The rights to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization of unions, to private

property, and to economic initiative are all part of protecting the dignity of work by protecting the rights of the workers.

7. SOLIDARITY The Catholic Church proclaims that every human being has a respon-

sibility to our brothers and sisters, wherever they live. We are one

human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. Solidarity is about loving our neigh-

bors locally, nationally, as well as internationally. 8. CARE FOR GODS CREATION The Catholic tradition insists that every human being show respect for

the Creator by our stewardship of His creation. We are called to protect people and the planet by living our faith with respect for

Gods creation. 9. SUBSIDIARITY

The principle of subsidiarity means being wide-eyed, clearly determin-ing the right amount of help or support that is needed to accom-plish a task or to meet an obligation: not too much (taking over and doing it for the other: thereby creating learned helplessness or overdependence) and not too little (standing back and watch-ing people thrash about, thereby increasing frustration and per-haps hopelessness). Instead of the less government the better, the principle might be better summarised as no bigger than nec-essary, no smaller than appropriate.

10. UNIVERSAL DESTINATION OF GOODS God intends for the goods of creation to be at the service (or destined for) all of

humanity (universally). Everyone has the right to access goods to meet

their needs. People and nations have no right to squander resources

when others are in need. The world is given to all, and not only to the

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11. One may say that God made an option for the poor and op-pressed. This is an option that he consistently makes in the history of Gods people.

12. Likewise, there is an awareness among the poor in Israel that they are Gods people - that they are the poor of Yahweh the Anawim. The theme of the Anawim - the poor of Yah-weh is encountered in the book of Zephaniah. The poor is identified with the remnant who will be saved and with whom God will make a new beginning.

13. The Anawim are the poor who remained faithful to Yahweh and who continued to hope for salvation in spite of the de-struction of Israel as a nation and of being exiled in a foreign land.

14. The Anawim were not only materially poor, they were also poor in spirit - they were totally dependent on God. Thus, the poor and the oppressed came to be identified as Yah-wehs righteous people.

15. In Deutero-Isaiah all of Israel is referred to as the poor of Yahweh. It was the Anawim who waited in hope for the com-ing of the Messiah - a suffering servant, one who will be hu-miliated, one who is poor and just.

Ten Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

1. LIFE AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON The first social teaching proclaims the respect for human life, one of

the most fundamental needs in a world distorted by greed and selfishness. The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is

sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the founda-tion for all the social teachings.

2. COMMON GOOD 2 A community is genuinely healthy when all people, not only one or

several segments, flourish. Every social group must take ac-count of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family.

3. CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND PARTICIPATION The social teaching proclaims that the human person is not only

sacred, but also social. Society often proclaims the importance of individualism, but Catholic social teaching argues that hu-man beings are fulfilled in community and family. The Catho-

lic Church believes we have the responsibility to participate in society and to promote the common good, especially for the

poor and vulnerable.

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ask Him to help. Now, coming to Jesus hanging from His Cross, look into His eyes as he looks into yours with love.

You who are rich I have come to bring life, he said, life to the full. Some of you, sad-

ly, are unmoved by this. You do not believe this. You do not believe

Jesus brings anything. For you, the fullness of life is the good life: your doing. It is not gifted, but taken. You take great satisfaction in that you are not like the rest of the rabble. You have no need for

prayer; you have no need for God. You may not wish to hear His message, but he says it again for you:

Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe when society

speaks well of you, for your fathers did the same to false prophets. He reminds you that your negligence of the poor may have serious

consequences: Whatever you have done or not done to one of these the least of my brothers and sisters, that you have done or not done to me. Look into His eyes gazing at you from the Cross.

Behold Jesus poor If that gaze, filled will love, brings you to confusion, shame and re-

pentance in this Year of the Poor, then consider its urgent chal-lenge for you: turn away from your pride, your selfishness, your

idolatry of money - in love, work to build the Kingdom of God on earth!

Stop the corruption. Stop the misuse of the Peoples funds, the wanton destruction of the environment.

Fight the poverty of the poor. Build vibrant companies that use our resources to create wealth for

our people, but distribute that wealth equitably.

Build an economy that is open to the world, but whose benefits do not exclude the poor. Provide jobs.

Provide education that respects all our people as human beings and children of God, not just cogs in a global production machine.

Provide education relevant to the fight against dehumanizing pov-erty: basic education to all, and higher education to all who desire it.

Build a society of dialogue in our diversity, and especially for our poor, build a society of peace.

Say no to war, for the greatest victims of war are the poor!

Behold Jesus, hope of the poor If that gaze, filled with love, brings you in poverty to consolation,

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encouragement and peace, take heart in Jesus love. Should you have no work, look for work. Should you have work,

work well. Cultivate a personal sense of industry, self-respect and social responsibility;

Continue to contribute to the welfare of your neighbors, your baran-gay, your municipality, your city, your nation. Always be helpful.

Vote as the common good demands. Together with your spouse, lead your children to the love and respect

the Lord through our Catholic communion. Be active in your par-

ish and in your basic ecclesiastical community.

Love, as you are loved by God. Share courageously of your faith in love! You are not just receivers of the Gospel. You are its bearers!

Shepherds looking into the eyes of the Good Shepherd Finally, in the Year of the Poor, we your pastors, and with us, all

priests and religious, look with you into the eyes of the crucified Lord. How often it is that we have looked into those tortured eyes

and failed to notice their twinkle! We have failed to notice the light that pierces the gloom in our hearts.

How often have we deprived ourselves of feeling what those eyes twinkling in passion convey: that we are noticed, appreciated, val-ued, and sent forth. We have cheated ourselves of the only treasure

in our calling: the felt certainty from the Cross that we are each individually and totally loved.

Look at Jesus In this Year of the Poor, we too are being asked in silence to peer into

the eyes of the crucified Lord. In those twinkling eyes, we consider the quiet invitation to be actually poor, one with him, stripped of His clothes, His dignity, His possessions, His power, His strength,

one with the unwashed, the oppressed, the scorned, the powerless, the miserable, the outcast. Of course, we can say no. We can repeat

the valid, reasonable excuses. But we can also say yes.

In this Year of the Poor, may our neediness be turned to sanctity, and may our arrogance be turned to service. In all, may the love of

the Crucified Lord triumph as he gazes into our hearts and we dare to look into his.

Anawim - The Poor of God

WHO ARE THE ANAWIM?

1. The word Anawim represents a plural from the Hebrew anaw which, along with its cognate ani is a word for poor, humble, afflicted.

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2. Although this title (Anawim) meaning the Poor Ones may have originally designated the physically poor (and frequently still included them), it came to refer more widely to those who could not trust in their own strength but had to rely in utter confi-dence upon God: the lowly, the poor, the sick, the downtrodden, the widows and the orphans.

3. The opposite of the Anawim were not simply the rich, but the proud and self-sufficient who showed no need of God or His help.

4. Their poverty was leavened by piety, including Temple piety for they devoted themselves to prayer and attendance at the Tem-ple

5. The poor (Anawim) are the victims of mans injustice, whose frightful misery Job describes (24:2-12), are defended by the prophets of Israel. Amos blushes with shame over the crimes of Israel (2:6 ff., 4: 1 ff., 5: 11 ff.) ; other prophets (e.g., Ezech 22:29) denounce the violence and robbery which stain the con-science of the nation: the crimes perpetrated against the poor, frauds in trading which victimize them (e.g., Amas 8:5 ff., Ho-sea 12:8), land-grabbing (e.g., Micah 2:2; Isaiah 5:8), enslave-ment of the little ones (e.g., Jer. 34: 8-22; cf. Nehemiah 5: 1-13), the abuse of power and the perversion of justice itself.

6. Yahweh promises justice to the oppressed; he warns the rich of the misfortunes which are to visit them (Isaiah 5:8-10; 10:l-4; H- 12~8-9).

7. The cry of the poor, the voice of the afflicted, the persecuted, the heavily-burdened, pierces the very ears of Yahweh (Job 34:28); the downtrodden express their hopes for a better and fuller tomorrow when the situation will be reversed (Pss. 54:7 ff; 69:23-30), but they look for their help from Yahweh, who is their strength in weakness, and who will stand for them. Their enemies are thus Gods enemies (Pss. 18:28; 9:14-19). Their very need and distress is itself a title to Yahwehs care and love (Ps. 10: 14; Isaiah 66: 1-2).

8. Thus it will be one of the tasks of the Messiah on his coming to defend the rights of the wretched and the poor (Isaiah 11:4; 49:13; fss. 72:2 ff, 12ff; 106; 112). A sign of his coming is the blessing of the poor with good things: the good things of the earth, prosperity and the fullest human well-being (Matt. 11:26; Luke 1:46-55; 4:17-21, cf. Is 61:l; 6: 20-26).

9. The poor (Anawim) are the heirs of the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6: 20; 16: 19-31).

10. One of the important themes in the Old Testament is that the poor and the oppressed constitute the People of God and they are the objects of Gods loving concern and liberating action in history.