By Patrick Wemambu
“Left to us humans, especially the wealthy, the poor should die off. They should not exist. And this is shown in modern slangs like ‘if you no get money, go sit down (hide your face). Or ‘if your skin no full, no put body.’ For many, money is all that matters. The rich should think about the poor.”
Those were the remarks of Rev. Fr. Leonard Okoli, Parish Priest, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Umuochi-Utchi, Warri Diocese in Ndokwa-East LGA of Delta State while delivering the homily in his parish Sunday.
Slamming the rich for shabbily treating the poor in the society, Fr. Okoli vehemently avowed that the lives of the impoverished should matter.
He said; “When you observe the way ordinary people are treated in the country, you will be disappointed. They are treated like their lives are less worthy than that of the wealthy and powerful individuals. We forget that we all share a common humanity.”
Quoting Brian Stevenson who once said on TED that a society is judged not by how it treats the powerful and wealthy but by how well it treats the weak – vulnerable and mass of its poor – the parish priest regretted that we live in a society that regards class more than humanity.
“Our country (Nigeria) is a livid example of the existence of such double standards… we sacrifice the poor for the rich. A rich man can get away with his crimes but the poor man can hardly get pardon. We are quick to put tyres around a poor thief and burn him to death. But hail our big political thieves,” the homilist deplored.
Should the wealthy engage in continually oppressing the poor, the Lord who is the hope of the latter will hear their cries – the Holy Trinity congregation was told.
“Isaiah proclaimed, ‘say to all faint hearts, courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God… is coming to save you.’ Psalm 145 stated that God raises up those who are bowed down, he protects the widow and orphan,” Fr Okoli sermonized, warning the rich to desist from taking advantage of the vulnerable on account of their weaknesses.
