The image of Jesus Christ, the Divine Poor, and its correlation to the mission of serving the poor

• Main Author: Arabit, Auria U.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Jesus Christ; Poverty—Biblical teaching; Catholic Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/5583
• Institution: De La Salle University

This work studies the Image of Jesus Christ, the divine poor and its correlation to the mission of serving the poor. The context of the study is a response to the continuous call of renewal. Pope Francis has asserted: "God constantly renews his faithful ones, whatever their age" (EG 11). The entire Catholic Church has been continuously re-proposing Christ and his Gospel in response to the profound questions and needs of contemporary people especially the poor. All need to understand that the poor must not only be the privileged recipient of the Good News but they are the very "heart of the Gospel" (Francis, 2015). This study expounded the fundamental insight that the Divine Poor, Jesus Christ, identifies himself with the poor and commands his follower to serve them. This charismatic face of Christ is meant to renew and build up the Church; it is "not an inheritance, safely secured and entrusted to a small group for safekeeping" (EG 130) but it must be felt and integrated into the body of the Church. As Pope Francis notes: "A sure sign of the authenticity of a charism is its ecclesial character" (EG 130). This exposition focuses on one particular Christological image: Christ the Divine Poor. The elucidation of the said image followed a systematic sequence: (a) general overview of their Scriptural basis, (b) selected reflection in the Tradition of the Church teachings, and, (c) how these are defined and lived in the Writings of Blessed Savina Petrilli, the Mother Foundress of the Sisters of the Poor of Saint Catherine of Siena and its impact on the life of mission in serving the poor. It explores how a charismatic image of Christ can be re-discovered and become point of reference in value formation.