THE POOR

Whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, God has a special place for the poor. The poor are where God lives. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

Jesus is a young man; he’s met with the rabbis; he's impressed everybody; people are talking.  The elders say, he’s a clever guy, this Jesus, but ー you know ー he hasn’t done much public speaking. When he does, his first words are from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," he says, "because He has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor."  And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor, the year of Jubilee.  I think that's Luke 4. What he was really talking about was an era of grace ー and we’re still in it. February 2, 2006 ー National Prayer Breakfast Speech (Washington DC, USA)​

If you are not committed to the poor, what is religion? It's a black hole. October 8, 1987 - Rolling Stone Interview with David Breskin

It’s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of airtime. You know, the only time Jesus Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor. “As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” [I] believe that's Matthew 25:40. February 2, 2006 ー National Prayer Breakfast Speech (Washington DC, USA)​

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. February 2, 2006 ー National Prayer Breakfast Speech (Washington DC, USA)​

It's absolutely clear what's on God's mind. You just have to read Scripture. Those who read Scripture and don't come away with God's preferential concern for the poor are just blind given there are 2,103 verses of Scripture about the poor. March 2003 - Christianity Today Article "Bono's American Prayer" by Cathleen Falsani

On so many issues it's difficult to know what God wants from us, but on this issue, helping the desperately poor, we know God will bless it." December 19, 2005 ー "The Constant Charmer" by Josh Tyrangiel (Time Magazine)

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone. I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree ー all faiths, all ideologies ー is that God is with the vulnerable and poor. February 2, 2006 ー National Prayer Breakfast Speech (Washington DC, USA)​

I used my background in the Scriptures to speak to [Church leaders] about the so-called leprosy of our age and how I felt Christ would respond to it. And they had better get to it quickly, or they would be very much on the other side of what God was doing in the world. Amazingly, they did respond. November 3, 2005 ー Interview with Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone)

I should be preaching to the converted here. There are 2,300 verses of Scripture pertaining to the poor. History will judge us on how we deal with this crisis. God will judge us even harder. ​2002 - The aWAKE Project - Various Contributors

I remember feeling angry about how the poor have to come to us in the West with their cap in hand. I thought, God does not see it like that. Whether you’re the CEO of a giant corporation or a poor farmer in Africa, God doesn't see any difference. I just thought we should give the poor more respect… I want to have the kind of representation for poor people where they don’t have to go up begging for crumbs from our table. 2009 – U2 by U2 – Neil McCormick
See Themes
Broken Heart
​True Treasure