“We
should not judge the poor by their exterior appearance, nor by their
mental capacities, because frequently they do not appear to have the
mind of educated people, but rather are vulgar and gross. But if we
turn the coin over, then, through faith, we will clearly see that
they are representatives of the Son of God who came into this world
as a poor person. There were times when Jesus did not appear to be a
human person: to the non-believer he seemed insane, to the Jews he
was a stumbling block, and yet he presented himself as the
Evangelizer of the poor: 'he sent me to proclaim Good News to the
poor.' Oh my God, how beautiful are the poor if we consider them as
children of God and esteem them in the same way as Jesus esteemed
them.” (SV XI, 725)
