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level, for “a society becomes alienated when its
forms of social organization, production and
consumption make it more difficult to offer the
gift of self and to establish solidarity between
people”.162
The special place of the poor in God’s people
197. God’s heart has a special place for the
poor, so much so that he himself “became poor”
(2 Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption
is marked by the presence of the poor. Salva-
tion came to us from the “yes” uttered by a lowly
maiden from a small town on the fringes of a
great empire. The Saviour was born in a man-
ger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor
families; he was presented at the Temple along
with two turtledoves, the offering made by those
who could not afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev
5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary work-
ers and worked with his own hands to earn his
bread. When he began to preach the Kingdom,
crowds of the dispossessed followed him, illus-
trating his words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor” (Lk 4:18). He assured those
burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that
God has a special place for them in his heart:
“Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of
God” (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them:
162 J ohn P aul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus
(1 May 1991), 41: AAS 83 (1991), 844-845.