The federal government shutdown is in its fifth week. If it does not end in the next two days, millions of people will not receive their monthly SNAP benefits that go to those who face food insecurity. The majority party in Congress refuses to allocate emergency funding to avoid this crisis despite the fact that The Department of Agriculture has a $5.5 billion dollar contingency fund for SNAP benefits. This is a clear example of elected officials in Congress and the President using poor people as pawns for their political purposes. What makes this especially disturbing is that many of those officials publicly proclaim their evangelical Christian faith.
To put this into perspective, I want to share the words of one of the world’s most influential and respected Christian leaders, Pope Leo XIV. He recently wrote a letter addressed to all Christians. When translated into English, its title is “I Have Loved You.” Here are several quotes from the letter that are especially important in light of both the current government shutdown and the ongoing economic disparities in our nation:
Love for the Lord can never be separated from love for the poor. When we meet the poor, we meet Christ himself. It’s not about distant charity or abstract compassion. It’s about encounter. The poor evangelize us. The reveal the living presence of Jesus. To turn away from them is to turn away from his face.
While I am not part of the Catholic tradition, I believe that Pope Leo’s letter speaks to all of us who identify as followers of Jesus. It is consistent with the person and Way of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Familiar passages such as Matthew 25: 31-46 are clear where Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
For anyone who claims that their “Christian values” inform their political decisions, using poor people as pawns to advance an ideological agenda is contrary to both the words and Spirit of our faith. The two videos posted below feature reports about Pope Leo’s letter. Please take a few minutes to watch them and reflect on what this means for our lives, the Church, and our nation.