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Day or Days with the Poor?

Every year the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time will be observed by the Catholic Church as the World Day of the Poor. The World Day of the Poor was established by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia Misera, issued on 20 November 2016 to celebrate the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

The first World Day of the Poor was observed in 2017 with the theme, ’Let us love not with words but with deeds’. This is exactly the way of St. Francis. He was not just a listener of the Gospel but a doer. Personalising the inspiration of St. Francis, the Pope invites the whole Church to be conscious of the poor always, be converted by them, and set aside time (at least a day) to give concrete expression to our consciousness of the poor by visiting them, being with them, listening to them, and showing solidarity and fellowship with them by sharing a meal with them or by any other means. We are aware how the Pope himself expressed his solidarity and fellowship with them as he spent time with them on the 12th of last month at the Portiuncula and on the 14th at the Vatican.

I was trying to give concrete expression to this invitation of the Pope in the Barul Mission. All the people in this village and the adjacent villages are poor farmers, who have to work hard to survive. They have to keep awake at night in this cold weather to water the fields, and to do that they have to depend on the availability of water in the canals and the power supply. They live on a meagre diet. This consists of some tea in the morning, while those who go to work will have chappathies (or maize rottis) and vegetables for breakfast, and the same at noon. At night they have chappathies, vegetables, dhal and rice. Once a week, on the market day, and on special occasions they prepare chicken or fish. I try to live as much as possible in solidarity with these people. And so, I consider my days here as days with the poor, lived in accord with my calling as a friar minor. They have a limited number of possessions, simple dwelling places, and a limited amount of clothes. I cook only vegetarian food in the Ashram (at mid-day) and like the people, eat only at noon and at night. Sometimes, some families bring me a portion of their fish or chicken which they have prepared. I gratefully accept it. In accord with the instruction given by Jesus and Francis I eat whatever the people eat and whatever they offer me. I attach some photos of me sharing in the life of the poor and the common man, such as eating maize rottis, working with the workers, caring for the animals, caring for the environment, standing in queue to book my tickets, and travelling by the ordinary means of transport. The Chapter documents tell us to go to the peripheries with the joy of the Gospel. I follow the exhortation of ‘Laudato Si’ (cosmic fraternity) and ‘Fratelli Tutti’ (Fraternity with all people without borders) and accordingly listen to the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor; these are my guiding forces.

Br. Scaria Varanath OFM
Haritodhyan Ashram, Barul

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