Monday of the First Week of Lent
The Church’s “preferential option for the poor and vulnerable” is a tricky thing. It is a principle of Catholic social teaching that claims that the needs of the most poor and the most vulnerable should be given priority in a society’s policies, actions, and attitudes. Yet this sounds like a form of partiality that the Scriptures themselves condemn. For example, Leviticus demands “You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly.” Is the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable forbidden by this rule in Leviticus?
While the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable is a kind of partiality, it is not of the sort that is prohibited in Leviticus. If we look carefully, we notice that Leviticus is describing a situation (e.g., a legal dispute) in which the weak and the mighty are at odds against each other. If I am judging a lawsuit between a rich person and a poor person, I should judge with justice based on the merits of the case - I should not be partial in that way. The partiality demanded by the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, however, is a rather simple and common-sense partiality: when helping others, first help those who need the help most. This partiality is, itself, a matter of justice because to help those who do not need help, at the expense of those who do need help, would be a cruel and corrupt partiality - a kind of injustice.
It is no surprise, then, that when Jesus comes again in glory to judge us, he will judge us according to the attention we gave to the poor and vulnerable. A judge as just as Jesus could not fail to do so.