Cries of people who are poor

Today's psalm reading is a familiar one: "The Lord hears the cry of the poor."  No doubt many of us even read that to a familiar tune from church in our head.

Yesterday I joined 400 other Catholics who went to the state capitol to speak to our legislators about economic justice.  Our core message was that in these tough economic times, we must not balance budgets on the backs of people who are poor and vulnerable.  As Archbishop Sartain reminded us in the opening liturgy, this is a biblical imperative. When the old testament speaks repeatedly of caring for the orphan and widow, this is code language to remind us that we must live out a preferential option for people who are poor and vulnerable. We must speak out and act on their behalf,  which is what we did.

In today's Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus rebukes the disciples (and us) for thinking not as God does but as human beings do. I imagine that if Jesus were to spend some time in our current political debates, from the presidential campaign to state capitols, he might have some similar words.

What would our world look like if we really lived out our call to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God. Not only in our generous moments, but always. Worth pondering.

In the meantime I am grateful for all the work my colleagues put into organizing Catholic Advocacy day and for all those who took time to speak out on behalf of economic justice for the common good.