I think, we’ve got it backwards! Popular wisdom seems to say we should imitate the rich, do what they did to become wealthy, powerful and happy. In 1980 I traveled to Baja Mexico with a number of fellow Passionists and there met some of the happiest people I’ve ever met, and they literally had nothing. They truly were the marginalized who pointed the way to life for me.
Mary Bassett, New York City’s Health Commissioner compassionately and authoritatively speaks out on the role of the marginalized in our society. While she concentrates this TED MED talk on people who are marginalized because of the color of their skin, I believe she’s really speaking out for the well being of all of us, especially anyone who is sitting comfortably enjoying the fruits or our American life thinking, that doesn’t really concern me.
Pope Francis on Twitter writes: “The great threat in today’s world is the loneliness of hearts oppressed by greed.” 22JUL2014. I think if Dante were around today, he’d describe hell as a place where people:
“…live in a stateless global archipelago of privilege – a collection of private schools, tax havens and gated residential communities with little or no connection to the outside world.” Read More
Seeking happiness? Maybe try:
- Taking the bus and rubbing shoulders with your neighbor.
- Living simply getting rid of what you don’t need.
- Associating with the marginalized, the rich if you are poor and vice versa.
We are a community of laymen and laywomen who, with vowed Passionists, seek to share in the charism of St. Paul of the Cross through prayer, ongoing spiritual formation, and proclamation of the message of Christ Crucified.
