If I were to say : ”Here are the people God prefers”, some may be quick to reply :
“God has no favourites”, saint Paul says it clearly when writing to the Romans (Rom.2:11).

And yet… I believe that God is… partial to some people among all his children.
They are mentioned many times throughout the Bible:
the widows, the orphans, the strangers, the weak, the needy, the downcast, those whose rights are ignored.
Amazingly, God affirms that he, himself, will defend them.

It is the message of this Sunday’s 1^st reading: (30^th Sunday Year A – Ex.22:20-26).
The text is forceful and the words challenging, to say the least:

“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him…
You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan;
if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me,
and be sure I shall hear their cry.”
 
Many texts of Scripture repeat this message clearly given also in Psalm 82:2-4:
“Let the weak and the orphan have justice,
be fair to the wretched and destitute;
rescue the weak and needy.”

The lowly and the needy, those despised and rejected, the victims of exploitation and repression, the ones who experience dejection and rejection – all of them have a special… power, it seems – the power to touch God’s heart and be favoured with his compassion.

If God hears their cry, we, who should reflect God’s image, should we not do as much?…

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