Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Proverbs 21:1–6, 10–13
The Book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom.
It gives short sayings about life.
How to live well.
How to choose well.
How to avoid foolishness.
Today we hear several wise sayings.
Most of them compare two ways of living:
the way of the just,
and the way of the wicked.
The way of wisdom,
and the way of selfishness.
Let us stay with one saying:
Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor
will also cry out and not be heard.
This is simple.
And it is serious.
A poor person cries.
Someone hears the cry.
But he closes his ears.
He does not want to know.
He does not want to help.
He says:
It is not my problem.
But one day, he too will cry out.
One day, he too will need help.
And then, no one will listen.
This saying warns us against indifference.
It tells us that the way we treat others can return to us.
If we close our hearts to the suffering of others,
our own heart slowly becomes hard.
And a hard heart is already a punishment.
Jesus tells a similar story about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus.
The poor man lies at the rich man’s gate.
He is hungry.
He is suffering.
But the rich man does not see him.
Or perhaps worse:
he sees him, but does nothing.
Later, the rich man himself is in need.
He cries for help.
But no help comes.
He had closed his heart for too long.
This can happen not only to individuals.
It can happen to families,
communities,
companies,
and nations.
When the cry of the poor is ignored,
something dangerous begins.
Injustice grows.
Anger grows.
Loneliness grows.
The bond between people breaks down.
But the opposite is also true.
Whoever listens to the cry of the poor
learns mercy.
Whoever opens his heart to those in need
becomes more human.
We may not be able to solve every problem.
We may not be able to help everyone.
But we can refuse to close our ears.
We can listen.
We can notice.
We can share something.
We can speak kindly.
We can act with mercy.
Today we can ask:
Whose cry do I ignore?
Who is at my gate?
What small act of mercy can I do today?
The wise person listens.
The wise person cares.
The wise person knows:
when we hear the poor,
God hears us.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).