poor

Tradition needs some updating. The Church speaks of "the poor." It makes me sick. People are poor or rich or somewhere in between. Referring to "the poor" portrays them as lepers. They are not. It can be anyone...and is. When the rich speak about "the poor," that makes me even sicker. The rich do not know poor people. Only when one cannot pay the rent, or could not, is one qualified to speak. Many priests have never been poor. The pope left his comfortable family life at 19 and entered the Society. He never had to worry about rent. I do not listen. If someone says "poor people," I may listen because I figure that person is poor or may have been poor. I am not speaking as Jesus speaks, but I can add my experience to His. When a person has to make a choice between what is moral and what will pay the rent, I understand the necessities. A known theme in literature is "Circumstances Excuse Immorality." If one cannot understand that, one has never been poor.