This Sunday we celebrate the World Day of the Poor. This year, for the first time, the day will be celebrated without the great defender of the poor, Pope Francis. But his successor, Pope Leo XIV, continues with the same concerns, and in fact, his first document, the Apostolic Exhortation “Dilexit te,” is dedicated to the theme of poverty.

The reason I am writing this is very personal. During my renewal course in Steyl, I saw the patron saint of my home parish in Poland—Saint Isidore the Laborer—in one of the stained-glass windows. Those who have been to Steyl know that behind the main altar in the upper church are stained-glass windows depicting the nine choirs of heaven. Above each of the seraphim, cherubim, etc., are images of different saints. In this noble company, the humblest of the celestial beings are the guardian angels. These humble servants also have a very humble saint—a simple peasant from medieval Madrid, Spain. This saint is usually depicted with a tool for digging or plowing the land, hence his title, “the Laborer.” Imagine my surprise when I saw a kind of pruning knife tucked behind his belt!

The other surprise came in the small museum next to this church, which formerly served as the sacristy. On the door of the main cabinet are depicted God the Father and the Son with the symbol of the vine. The Father is holding… the same knife as Saint Isidore! The bas-relief also bears an inscription with a biblical reference, John 15:1-7. It is the parable of the vine and the branches. We read there: “My Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” (vv. 1-2). These words speak of a judgment for some and a process of purification/growth that can also be painful.

Could these two images, that of the poor farmer and that of God the Father, have anything in common? Is it possible that the poor are our judges or a factor that makes us grow?

In his Apostolic Exhortation (number 30), Pope Leo writes: “The Lord’s call to mercy toward the poor has found its fullest expression in the great parable of the Last Judgment (cf. Mt 25:31-46), which is also a graphic description of the beatitude of the merciful. There the Lord offers us the key to achieving our fullness, because ‘if we seek that holiness which pleases God, in this text we find precisely a protocol by which we will be judged’ (Francis, Gaudete et exultare, 95).”

May the spiritual legacy left to us by Saint Arnold help us to face the challenges of today!

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Member of the Editorial Team of the website VivatDeus.org. In 1985, he entered the Society of the Divine Word in his native Poland. He completed his OTP experience in Argentina. He worked in Spain, where he earned a licentiate in biblical theology. From 2003 to 2022, he worked in Russia, teaching at the seminary and serving at St. Olga Parish in Moscow. Currently, in Poland he is dedicated to deepening his understanding of the spiritual history of Arnold Janssen and to spiritual animation.