Πτωχός

SCRUTATIO SCRIPTURAE

Πτωχός

(ptōchos)

THE POOR

A Scrutatio for the 9th Sunday of the CHRISTIAN SEASON OF ORDINARY TIME/TIME OF THE CHURCH

Readings from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer

Genesis 18:1-14 / Psalm 15 / Colossians 1:21-29 / Luke 10:38-42

Readings for the Pauline/Vatican II Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Genesis 18:1-10a / Psalms 15:2-3a, 3b-4, 5 / Colossians 1:24-28 / Luke 10:38-42

Readings for the Tridentine Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Introit: Psalm 54:6-7 and 1

Epistle: I Corinthians 10:6-13

Gradual and Alleluia: Psalm 8:1 and 59:1

Gospel

Luke 19:41-47

Offertory:

Psalm 19:9-10

Communion Antiphon: John 6:57

For today’s reflection, may I share with you this article from PROLIFE PHILIPPINES entitled:

Dignity

Posted by cactusflower on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 · Leave a Comment 

Last week the staff of Pro Life Philippines went out for dinner at a restaurant in Malate. What we saw at the restaurant’s doorstep literaly had us crestfallen: a bent, old grandmother, dressed in faded daster, cane on one hand and a bunch of roses on the other. She was selling the roses to support herself. We bought a couple of roses and asked her to just stay home. She won’t, she said, “sayang ang kita” (I really need to make a living), and even if she wanted to, selling roses were her only means of survival. All her children are dead, she said, and if she doesn’t support herself, no one will.

Every poor person has a story to tell, and if there is one thing that they share is that most of them are willing to work in order to survive. Including our poor lola in Malate. Apparently poverty has left them bereft of so many things in life, except for one thing: dignity.

One of our friends in Pro Life tells us the story of his wife’s experiences with the poor. One day, she gathers some ten or more street children in their area in order to bring them to the mall and have a fun time. They were refused entry by the security, to the consternation of the wife. “But they are people too!” she pleaded,  to no avail. Seeing that people were sternly looking at them and not wanting to expose the children to more embarrasment, she decided to take them to a famous fast food store instead, where she ordered a hearty chicken meal for all of them.

Imagine her amazement, when, having washed all of their hands, they still refused to eat their free meal, to the point that the silence was getting awkward. She had no choice but to ask: “Bakit ayaw ninyo pang kumain?” (Why don’t you start eating?)

To which one of the kids replied: “Iuuwi po sana namin para may makain ang pamilya namin” (Can we bring it home to our families instead?)

One thing poverty is not able to strip them off is their dignity.

The poor is always blamed for so many things. They blame the poor for having too many children. They are looked down on for being the eye sore of society. Snatchers, thieves, thugs, prostitutes, addicts and swindlers come from poor people, they said. Rarely do people talk about the dignity of the poor, and how to create laws and policies that will ensure the dignity of the poor and uplift them from their miserable plight.

The recent Manila Summit on Family Planning held last Thursday, November 15 at the PICC certainly wasn’t a move to recognize the dignity of the poor. Organized by the UK embassy in the Philippines and Zuelling Pharmacy, the talks focused on how companies could best provide family planning services for their employees. Needless to say that the money they will be using to buy contraceptives can and should be used towards more useful ends. Too many poor workers are asking for a wage hike but all the companies can guarantee, with the help of the government, are contraceptives.  How could that be helpful to breadwinners who have hungry families waiting back at home?

Looking at the bigger picture, the RH bill IS discriminatory to the poor. As Pro Life friend and running for senator JC delos Reyes said: “The RH bill is the ultimate discrimination against the poor. If you’re rich, you can have as many children as you like, but if you are poor, you are given contraceptives.” While it is true that ideally, one should only sire children that one can support at a time, shouldn’t we be giving the less privileged and less fortunate the means to rise out of poverty so they can raise more children as they wish?

Dr. Bernardo Villegas tells us that there are things that the poor need in order to rise from poverty: Education, jobs, and personal loans. Yes, healthcare is good, but going as far as to say that “contraception is a right” is just a bit of a stretch.

To be realistic, the poor CAN afford contraceptives, contrary to what the RH camp says. A pack of condoms cost about 30 pesos, a whole month’s supply of contraceptive pills about 40. They cost the same as cellphone loads, a pack of cigarettes, or a bottle or two of beer. So it is really a question of whether they can buy contraceptives or not. It is a question of whether the poor want them or need them at all.

The poor rummage through our trash to see if they can salvage something and sell it for a price so they can support their families. They don’t even call it junk, or trash. They call it kalakal. They are trying to live dignified lives, no matter how society tries to strip them of it. The RH bill does not give the poor the dignity that they deserve; it does not give dignity to the parents, who need jobs and education for their children but instead are given a piece of rubber or a set of pills. Neither does it give dignity to the unborn, who have yet to see the light of day and yet are pre-judged to be “mouths to feed” or “will make the poor poorer” or as President Obama claims, “punishment.”

The poor deserve better than the RH Bill.

 SOURCE: http://www.prolife.org.ph/?p=3061

I hope that through this article, we will open our eyes to the TRUTH that before we can be an effective MARTHA, we should FIRST FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, like MARY.

That before we could give the poor what they REALLY NEED, we should LISTEN TO THEM FIRST BEFORE ASSUMING THAT WE KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM AND THAT CONDOMS AND PILLS IS ALL THEY NEED.

Let JESUS cleanse our TEMPLES...

OUR HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE VARIOUS MARKET PLACES SO THAT WE MAY NOT TURN GOD’S HOUSE OF PRAYER INTO A DEN OF THIEVES! 

AND THAT "HOUSE OF PRAYER," THAT "MOST SACRED TEMPLE" IS THE HUMAN PERSON, MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD OUR FATHER, SAVED AND MADE NEW BY JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON, AND MADE HOLY AND CHANGED FROM GLORY TO GLORY BY THE AWESOME PARACLETE!