In today's first reading, Isaiah 11: 1-10, Isaiah prophesies about the Messiah. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide right for the land's afflicted."
Women, in Jesus' culture, were treated unjustly, oppressed and poor--women and children counted as nothing in Jewish culture and still do in some Eastern countries. God chose two women to hail the coming of the Messiah: Elizabeth, who gave birth to John the Baptist, the precursor of the Lord chosen to make way for the Messiah, and Mary, who gave a human nature to God Incarnate. Mary recognizes God's openness to the poor and the lowly in the Magnificat when she prays: "....He [God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly [in this specific case, Mary and Elizabeth]. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.....
In the Gospels, Jesus often points to the poor and lowly, seeks them out, dines with them, protects them. If we want to enter Jesus' kingdom, He asks us to become like little children (children, along with the poor, such as shepherds, were discounted in Jesus' culture). Another example of Jesus' openness to the oppressed is his response to the good thief on the cross: "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." The poor, the oppressed, the outcasts have a special place in Jesus' heart! Do they in yours and mine? What in me or about me, what in you and about you, do I, do you, oppress or treat unjustly, despise?
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