Help Us to Hear The Cry of the Poor

Those who seek the Lord want for no good thing. // Psalm 34:11

Years ago, I wrote an article about the book Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. While interviewing the author, Kevin Bales, who has devoted his life to ending slavery in its current forms, I learned that contemporary slavery is even worse than slavery from antiquity.

Slavery of old was legal and slave owners had reason to invest in the health and well-being of their slaves; they wanted them fit and strong to work. Now that slavery is illegal around the world, slave owners have no incentive to treat their slaves well. They wear them out, literally throw them away to die, and then get new ones. Thus, Bales’ disturbing expression, “disposable people.”

In the course of our interview, he told me how very little money it often took to free a person. Then he gave me this shocking statistic: if you own your own car, you are in the top 3 percent of wealth in the world. If you own your own home, you’re in the top 0.5 percent of wealth in the world. Those stats are old now and the divide is even greater.

I think of that interview often, especially when I struggle with resentment at the cost of living and inflation. My health insurance is like a second house payment without the second house! Money matters are too often a source of resentment and sometimes fear—even for me, sitting robustly in the top 0.5 percent.

Today’s Responsorial Psalm professes that “the Lord hears the cry of the poor” (Psalm 34:7a). And I think one of the ways that he “hears” that cry is through those of us who can shed light on the reality they face. We can help the cry of the poor—whether through poverty, human trafficking, or homelessness—to be heard. We can bring their cry to lawmakers and voters. We can respond to their cry by supporting any number of organizations that work against these plagues.

This week, pray with your family about how you might help the truly poor to be heard and delivered.