WHO OR WHAT ARE THE ANAWIM?

Who Are the Anawim?

By Lee Ellis

Anawim is the plural form of an Old Testament Hebrew word which is variously translated as "poor", "afflicted", "humble", or "meek". It is the Anawim, "the lost and the forgotten ones", to whom Jesus refers in his beautiful beatitudes on The Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven", and "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth". ( Mt5:3,5) What a revolutionary thought: God loves everyone!

In a wonderful foreshadowing of these blessings, the prophet Zephaniah (Zeph 2:3, 3:12-19) relays God's message that, even in the worst of times there will remain " a faithful remnant" in our midst. God's Remnant then, are the people who find their security and treasures, not in the trappings of the material world, but in God. This faithful remnant, the Anawim, guarantees the future survival of all God's people, by containing within themselves the very keys to the kingdom itself. For is it not in how we treat and welcome the Stranger at the Gate, "the least of these", which truly bring us into the very meaning and heart of The Cosmic Christ: "Love One Another".

In both The Great Commandment, and throughout Matthew 25, we are commanded by Jesus to aid our neighbors - to constantly strive to redress the grievances of those who are abandoned or alone, alienated and marginalized, to protect the dignity of the poor and to stand with the oppressed as they attempt to become free of that which oppresses them. Christ emptied himself and became poor, so that we might become rich. Jesus constantly ministered to the poor and the sick, to the outcasts of society.

Certainly to any of God's children who feel marginalized this promise holds special comfort. "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you".( Mt.5:11-12)

In some deep and profound sense, however, the Anawim actually includes all the people of God. For have we not all at times been considered empty, questioning, oppressed or lonely? Whether we are rich or poor, living in palaces or in the streets, healthy or ill, religious or not, we are all humbled in the living presence of God.

Sister Maria Buchard, of the Marionist sisters says it beautifully: "The poor show me my poverty. They symbolize for me who I am before God. They show me that all of us are the Anawim, that we are all totally dependant on the loving mercy and kindness of God."

This then is the message of The Anawim: Even in our poverty and oppression, we are joyfully in the hands of our loving Father/Mother God. As a child will leap off a precipice into the awaiting arms of it's loving Parent, so do the Anawim trust in the promise of God; " I will be with you always".

The secret of The Anawim is that God lives in all His/Her people. Jesus' blessings in the beatitudes confirms this joyful news, turning the old expectations upside down, like the moneychangers' tables in the HolyTemple. Jesus extends blessings on even the lowliest outcasts of society. He tells us not to be victims. Knowing that we are already blessed allows us to turn the other cheek with grace and dignity. We stop being victims and claim our place at the table as the prophets of the Kingdom. As you do to me, so you do to The Christ. It is a joyful mission indeed to bring such good news to the world. The choice to return good actions for evil is truly the mark of those whose very lives bears witness to that ancient truth: Love One Another, for we are all, indeed, Blessed!