137.7月8日真正的貧窮－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

“Giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2447). Charity toward the poor comes in many forms: we can give them fish for a day or teach them to fish.

「施捨給窮人，是兄弟友愛的一種主要的見証，也是悅樂天主的正義之實踐。」（天主教教理，2447）。對窮人的善行有多種形式：我們可以給他們一天的魚，或是教他們釣魚。

What constitutes “the poor” encompasses a broad range, from destitution to struggling to make ends meet. Charity to the former may include money and clothing; to the latter it could be scholarships to school or free training for a professional occupation. The point for the giver is to meet the need, whatever that may be, in order both to ease the recipient’s suffering and to enable him to feel God’s love through our compassion. In doing so we show “a preferential love” for the poor that is a hallmark of a true disciple of Christ. (Catechism 2448)

造成「窮人」的原因所涵蓋的範圍很廣，從本身的貧困到努力維持生計等。解決前者的善行可能包括：金錢和衣服的援助；面對於後者而言，可以是提供學校獎學金，或專業的免費技職培訓。給予者的重點是在於滿足需要，無論那是什麼，以便減輕接受者的痛苦，並使他能夠藉由我們的憐憫，而感受到天主的愛。藉由這樣的做法，我們向窮人顯示了「優先關愛」的對象，這是主基督真正門徒的標記。（天主教教理，2448）

But one should not be “reductionist.” What about the “spiritually poor?” In our day, sad to say, real spiritually poor people exist in droves: first, the lonely, depressed, addicted, and suicidal are some of them. Of course, these have nothing to do with the “poor in spirit,” who are the humble before God. (Matthew 5:3)

但是，一個人不應該是「簡化論者」。要如何處理那些「精神貧窮」的人呢？在我們這個時代，可悲的是，真正「精神貧窮」的人成群結伴地存在著：首先是，孤獨、抑鬱、上癮和想自殺的人，就是其中的一部分。當然，這些人與「神貧」無關，他們在天主面前是謙卑的人們。（瑪5：3）

Then, those who live without God in their lives are also spiritually poor.

然而，那些在生活中沒有天主的人們，在精神方面也是貧窮的。

As with material poverty, spiritual poverty has a range: those who do not know God or have forsaken Him are the most destitute; those who have God but not Christ are a rung up; those who have Christ but not the Catholic Church are less poor but still suffer from not having their needs completely met; those who are Catholic but do not attend Mass are blind to their poverty.

與物質貧窮的情況一樣，精神的貧窮也有一定範圍：那些不認識天主或離棄天主的人，是最貧窮的；那些有天主，但是沒有主基督的人，是一個較高的階層；那些有主基督，但是沒有天主教會的人，並不那麼貧窮，但是仍然因為沒有完全滿足他們的需要而受苦；那些天主教徒，但是不參加彌撒的人，對他們的貧窮視而不見。

The spiritually poor surely need to receive charity too. Should we exclude them from among “the poor”? What should this charity be?

精神上貧窮的人，當然也需要接受善行。我們是否應該將他們排除在「窮人」之外？這種善行應該是什麼呢？

Some think, from a materialistic worldview, that faith is relative, and secondary to persons’ “real”— that is, material — needs. Holders of this view may well believe in Christ, but they do not think, contrary to our Lord’s repeated warnings and the continuous teaching of the Church, that what they believe matters or has anything to do with salvation.

有些人認為，從唯物論的世界觀而言，信仰是相對的，是次要的，而不是人的「真實」需求—即物質。持這種觀點的人可能相信主基督，但是他們不認為，與我主一再的警告，以及教會不斷地教導有所違背；他們也不認為，其所信仰的觀點，或是與救恩有任何關係。

Our Lady of the Oak Bough

The oak is symbol pf fortitude and fidelity.

拿著橡木枝的聖母

橡木是堅韌和忠誠的象徵。