The New Parish and caring for the poor: the Christian commitment in the world

Abstract

The New Parish, beloved by the most recent church documents (among which the Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the Aparecida Document and the Document 100), meets several challenges for its renewal, among them the caring for the poor. This commitment, the agape expression of Christ, is fundamental in this world in which the seeds of individualism and neo-paganism are gaining strength. Thus, in an exercise of systematic theology that re-connects biblical theology and pastoral, an important way is to look at the caring for the poor in the example of the Apostle Paul. Paul organized a collection for the saints of the Jerusalem church among the Asian communities, making visible church unity between Jews and Gentiles through charity. It was not only a solidary action, but the experience of Christian love that is given as Thanksgiving (Eucharist) to God, He who by his grace (Charis) saved us first.