Maundy Thursday, April 17

The poor and the helpless have fled to you and have been safe in times of trouble. You give them shelter from storms and shade from the burning heat. Cruel enemies attack like a winter storm

Isaiah 25:4

I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”  John 16:33

Jesus once famously said that the poor will always be with us; the Psalmist shows how the poor and the helpless flee to God for protection.  Pope Francis has made the poor a central concern of his ministry as pope – he talks about a Church of and for the poor.  This is a challenging concept for many and good news for many more! 

I was recently challenged by a good friend about how we speak about the poor as if they are not part of us when, the reality is, as Jesus said, the poor are always with us.  In each of our congregations there are poor people – we may not know that folk are poor, struggling on ever decreasing benefits, subjected to the Bedroom Tax, or living on poverty level wages.  We may not realise that some of the folk in our congregations are asylum seekers forbidden to work and, if they are lucky, given a meagre benefit way below what an unemployed person can claim.  Whether we’re aware or not are churches are, increasingly, made up of the poor as well as those who are better off. 

Nationally the churches have been very good at speaking out about how the poor and the migrant are treated – yet the press and politicians then criticise the Church for speaking out.  Yet we should not be upset if we’re criticised by press and politics – after all we know more about the reality of our communities than many of those who criticise us.  The Church is one of the few places where poor people and the not so poor can mix, can share their experiences and work out what the Good News is for us in our own contexts.

God of the poor,

Help us to be attentive to what you are doing in our midst,

Help us to be aware of the Church you are building,

Of the people you draw to yourself,

Help us to learn from each other

And to build a Church which truly reflects

Our community – in our riches, in our poverty,

In our sufferings, and in our joy.

Amen.

Andy Braunston

The Metropolitan Church