Advent Day 15: Stay Close To The Poor

I tore through Father Greg Boyle’s new book “Barking to the Choir” in a couple of days (a healthier option rather than Netflix binge-watching). He’s part poet, priest, comedian, and master story teller. This book tops my list of favorites from the past year and it’s one that I will re-read a number of times.

Here is a quote from chapter 8, The Choir…

Dorothy Day, when asked how to live the Gospel, she simply replied: “Stay close to the poor.” She could have said, I suppose, help the poor, rescue the poor, save the poor. But no—stay close to the poor. The invitation is not to romanticize the poor but to recognize that some essential piece of our own salvation is tied up in our proximity to those on the outskirts.

Illustration by Everett Patterson (description of his thought process on this piece here)

If you are looking for “Christian,” don’t look for it in the halls of power. Look for it among the outcasts, the shunned, the exiles, the grieving. Because that’s the meaning and point of Christmas. —Diana Butler Bass