Happy are those whose help is in the God of Jacob […] who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow” (Psalm 146:5-9).

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, Jesus brings before his audience (which includes us, today), those about whom society forgets - the “backstage” people. He affirms the loving action of the woman who washes his feet with perfume; he emphasises the huge sacrifice of the widow who had only one coin to give, and who gave that coin; he notices the widow in her son’s funeral procession and heals her son.

Christ does not set himself apart from any person. Christ takes the hand of each of those whom we place on the margins of our society, because no one is on the margins of God’s love. There is no pecking order in God, and no “other”. Each person is of inestimable worth in Christ’s eyes and, therefore, also in the eyes of the Father. Each is of inestimable dignity and worth … not “because” of any characteristic that only some of us have – but because God created every one of us.