‘The Needs of the Poor Take Priority Over the Desires of the Rich’

Here's an excerpt from a blog post by Fernando Laguarda.

In all we do then, personally and politically, the poor have the most urgent moral claim on our conscience. My prayer for myself, and for all of us as we discuss and debate and talk about public policy, is that we examine our choices and priorities in terms of how we can help the poor. We don’t have to ignore the middle class, and we don’t have to stop taking care of ourselves. But Jesus asks for more. And the church teaches us that we need to do more. As Pope John Paul II reminded us, “The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich” (Economic Justice, para. 94). The church’s preferential option for the poor must be our option, and it must be central to our efforts to achieve the common good.

You can read the rest of the post here.