MODULE 1

Looking through the Loving,

Merciful and Compassionate Heart

Anawim
Who are they?

 Anaw = Hebrew for poor,

humble, afflicted

Those who could not trust in their

own strength but had to rely in
utter confidence upon God

Victims of mans injustice

They are the poor who remained

faithful
to Yahweh and who continued to
hope for salvation in spite of
everything

They were not only materially poor,

they were also poor in spirit they
were totally dependent on God

Their poverty was

leavened by Piety =
reverence for God or devout fulfilment of
religious obligations like prayer, going to
church, receiving the sacraments, etc.

Opposite of Anawim = the proud and

self-sufficient who showed no need of
God

Yahweh promises justice to the

oppressed

They waited in hope for the coming

of Messiah a suffering servant,
one who will be humiliated, one
who is poor and just

The anawim are the heirs of the

Kingdom of God that is to come at
the end of time

Anawim
Who are they today?

They are strangers to people who

have made it in this world

They are outcasts, they are paid no

attention because they have nothing
the world wants

They are attached

to nothing and no
one, except God,
their family, and a
few people

They are not weighed down by

anxiety and hurry

They know what

is important
things that last
the soul and
relationships


Jesus

Option for the

Poor

 Jesus was born poor and grew up in

the midst of the poor

By embracing poverty, he shared

the condition of the majority

 He belonged to the lower class and

made no attempt to disguise or
escape it

 He had absolute dependence on

the Father

 Many of the miracles favored the

poor the widow, the sick, the
possessed, the hungry

The identification of Jesus with the

poor and his demand that those who
follow him have to embrace
evangelical poverty implies that the
Church has to be a Church of the
Poor

The Challenge
Church of the Poor

1. The Gospel calls Christians to put the needs

of the poor first. A common moral test of a
society is how it treats its most vulnerable
people.
2. Precisely because we wish to be at the service of
all of society, our primary concern will always
be those who live on its margin, excluded
from the essential services. Wherever there is
structural injustice, Christians are called to
oppose it. Those with the greatest need require
the greatest response.
3. God is Father of all, without exception, and we
firmly believe in the equal dignity of all. It is
this belief which commits us in faith to promote
respect for the inalienable rights of all and their