The Face of Poverty

The lunch program at the Cathedral here is threatened with closure by claims of the merchants and other neighbors that "it is a public nuisance". They have stated that their sales are down during operation and that people are afraid of those lined up for a hot lunch. How often we have turned our eyes away from the poor because we can not look. Some say that they are afraid of being robbed. Robbed? Perhaps robbed of the illusion that they are safe from a similar fate. We fear not the poor, but rather the we fear the face of poverty. We don't want to imagine the loss of our independence, dignity, and assurance of food and shelter. We see in their eyes our failure as a society. Those lined up for a hot lunch are the ones living with real fears. The available shelters are unsafe, and they are subjected to sexual violence, drugs, and other threats against their safety. When we look at their vulnerability, we access our own. But, it is in that dialogue of hearts that we find the greater gifts and our freedom from fear. In the homeless I have witnessed faith, hope, and strength of the human spirit. They number among my heroes and heroines.

This day throw open all your houses, and forever.
And love, not fear, the many poor.

-Thomas Merton