In the gospel, Jesus says, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes" (Matthew 21:42).
I think the most common interpretation of this verse is that Jesus is the stone the builders rejected, and the builders are the priests who rejected him, and Christ is the cornerstone of the church.
But another interpretation might be that all those who are rejected, persecuted, or oppressed are the cornerstone of the church. Jesus proclaims the coming of a kingdom in which the suffering of those who've been rejected and oppressed will come to an end. The church will become a sanctuary for those who've been mistreated, ignored, or dispossessed.
In Matthew 25:35-40, Jesus says, "I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me...Truly I say to you, as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
So "the least of these," whoever they are, may be the cornerstone of the church, insofar as if the church isn't helping to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, and offer hope to the imprisoned, then the church isn't really fulfilling its mission. This social mission isn't the only mission of the church; the church also has a kerygmatic mission: to proclaim the gospel, and to present the preachings and teachings of Jesus Christ.1 But if we're not fulfilling our responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, then we're not really fulfilling our mission to continue Christ's ministry, and we're not "loving our neighbors as ourselves."
So the rejected, the poor, the homeless, the destitute, and the vulnerable may be described as the cornerstone of the church, insofar as caring for them is a true indication of our faith. Jesus said, "The last shall be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16). He also said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
This brings to mind the teaching in the Catholic Church that the Church has a "preferential option for the poor." The phrase "preferential option for the poor" arose from the meetings of the Catholic Bishops of Latin America, in Medellin, Colombia (in 1968), and in Puebla, Mexico (in 1979). The Medellin Conference called upon the Catholic Church to become a church of the poor, and the Puebla Conference described a "preferential option for the poor" (opción preferential por los pobres),2 which became an important principle of Latin American liberation theology.
Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest, who's considered a founder of liberation theology, and who has taught at many American universities (and is currently Professor Emeritus at Notre Dame), explained in his writings on the theology of liberation that the preferential option for the poor doesn't deny the universality of God's love or that God loves everyone equally. Gutiérrez explains, however, that the preferential option for the poor does recognize that the last shall be first, and the first last.3 Our obligation to protect the poor and vulnerable must come before other less pressing obligations.
Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador who was assassinated in 1980 because he spoke out against social injustice and human rights violations committed by the military government in El Salvador, was particularly concerned with the plight of the poor and marginalized. Archbishop Romero said, "I am glad, brothers and sisters, that our church is persecuted precisely for its preferential option for the poor and for trying to become incarnate in the interest of the poor and for saying to all the people, to rulers, to the rich and powerful: unless you become poor, unless you have a concern for the poverty of our people as though they were your own family, you will not be able to save society."4
Archbishop Romero also said, "When we say "for the poor," we do not take sides with one social class...What we do, according to Puebla, is invite all social classes, rich and poor without distinction, saying to everyone: let us take seriously the cause of the poor as though it were our own--indeed, as what it really is, the cause of Jesus Christ, who on the final judgment day will call to salvation those who treated the poor with faith in him."5
Pope John Paul II, in an encyclical entitled Centesimus Annus (1991), said the preferential option for the poor is never exclusive or discriminatory toward other social groups. The option for the poor applies not only to those who are suffering from material or economic poverty, but also to those who are suffering from spiritual poverty.6
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, in a document entitled "The Common Good" (1996), said that "People who are poor and vulnerable have a special place in Catholic teaching: this is what is meant by the "preferential option for the poor." Scripture tells us we will be judged by our response to the "least of these", in which we see the suffering face of Christ himself. Humanity is one family despite differences of nationality or race. The poor are not a burden; they are our brothers and sisters. Christ taught us that our neighborhood is universal: so loving our neighbor has global dimensions. It demands fair international trading policies, decent treatment of refugees, support for the U.N., and control of the arms trade. Solidarity with our neighbor is also about the promotion of equality of rights and equality of opportunities; hence, we must oppose all forms of discrimination and racism."7
I think the phrase "preferential option for the poor," like the phrase "black lives matter," may be subject to misinterpretation and misunderstanding, however.
To say "black lives matter" isn't to say that only black lives matter or that black lives matter more than other lives or that all lives don't matter. This is a common misunderstanding on the part of those who express opposition or antagonism to the Black Lives Matter movement. To say "black lives matter" is rather to say that when black lives don't seem to matter to society, we need to take some time to focus on the fact that black lives do matter, and that further steps must be taken in order for society to recognize this fact.
Similarly, to speak of the church's "preferential option for the poor" isn't to say that God prefers the poor to other people or that poor people are somehow better than other people or are more deserving of God's love than other people. It's to recognize, however, that we have a particular obligation to help the poor, as well as an obligation to correct social injustice and protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
The phrase "preferential option for the poor" may be ambiguous or problematic in other ways, however.
First of all, who are the poor? The Puebla document of the Catholic Bishops of Latin America in 1979 described the poor as including the indigenous peoples, the peasants, the marginalized urban dwellers, the unemployed and underemployed, children, and the elderly.8 Thus, the concept of the poor may be broadened to include all those who are disadvantaged or in need or vulnerable.
Second, is it really "optional" to care for the poor? Isn't it morally imperative, rather than optional?
Third, is the preferential option for the poor really a matter of "preference"? Doesn't God love everyone equally? Will global poverty ever be eliminated if the wealthy feel social policy is being determined by preferences for the poor over the wealthy?
So who or what do you think is the stone the builders rejected, the stone that has become the cornerstone of the church?
Do we actually have to choose between seeing Jesus as the cornerstone and seeing the marginalized as the cornerstone?
Jesus was a voice for the rejected and marginalized. He identified with, and was himself one of the poor, the persecuted, and the oppressed, and he expressed God's love for all those who have been rejected, ignored, or forgotten.
In Luke 4:18-19, we can hear Jesus speaking for the poor and dispossessed when he reads from the Book of Isaiah and says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
FOOTNOTES
1Albert Mohler and Jim Wallis, "Is Social Justice an Essential Part of the Mission of the Church?" October 27, 2011, online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5hmQL61PrQ&t=4434s.
2Thomas A. Nairn, "Roman Catholic Ethics and the Preferential Option for the Poor, AMA Journal of Ethics, May 2007, online athttps://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/roman-catholic-ethics-and-preferential-option-poor/2007-05#:~:text=During%20the%20Puebla%20Conference%2C%20the,for%20the%20poor%22%20was%20coined.&text=The%20preferential%20option%20or%20love,of%20the%20Church%20bears%20witness.
3Gustavo Gutiérrez, Essential Writings (Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 1994), p. 145.
4Oscar Romero, "Christ Gives to Us a Prophetic Mission," (July 15, 1979, p. 5, online at
http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/homilies/christ_gives_prophetic_mission.pdf.
5Oscar Romero, "True Independence Comes Only From Christ," (September 9, 1979), p. 4, online at http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/homilies/true_independence_comes_only_christ.pdf.
6Pope John Paul II, "Centesimus Annus," 57, 1991, online at http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1ocIPvUfN1IJ:www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.
7The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, "The Common Good and the Catholic Church's Social Teaching, 1996, online at http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/THE-COMMON-GOOD-AND-THE-CATHOLIC-CHURCH_1996.pdf.
8Encyclopedia.com, "Option for the Poor," online at https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/option-poor.
