poor man's day - november 14, 2021

A nun, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres, visits the poor in a slum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

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In the personal notes of a French saint and founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres, Saint Emilie de Villeneuve (1811-1854) shared a subject of her meditation: "A good soul, very charitable, said to God when going to see a poor man who was in very bad shape: "My God, you are well hidden in this poor man but in any case I will do so that I will be able to find you in him."

  She expressed in one of her prayers: "Our spirit of faith makes us contemplate God alone in all things and all things in God alone".

Emilie dedicated her life to the service of the poor and suffering members of Jesus. It was especially in the faces of the poor, the lame, the criminals, the orphans and the women that she saw God. She left her social privileges, her family, relatives and friends to be close to the poor, to live, to work and to experience their feelings. She died of cholera in France in 1854, during an epidemic, after a lifetime of service to God's poor.

"The poor are always with us" (Mark 14:7) is the theme of Pope Francis' message for the 5th World Day of the Poor, which will be commemorated on November 14, 2021.

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The World Day of the Poor has been observed on the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time since 2017. Pope Francis established it in “Misericordia et Misera,” an apostolic letter published on November 20, 2016, to mark the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

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According to Pope Francis, the face of God revealed by Jesus is that of a Father concerned and close to the poor. "We see Jesus in the lives