11 — THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY

Presence of God. — O Jesus, I contemplate You on the mountain while You instruct the crowds on the spirit of poverty. I too draw near, desirous of understanding more deeply the spirit of poverty.

Meditation

1 — “And Jesus, opening His mouth, taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5, 3).

Thus begins the Sermon on the Mount, and then repeatedly Jesus explains how poverty of spirit must be understood. “Do not lay up treasures on earth, where rust and moth consume and where thieves dig through and steal; lay up instead treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consume and where thieves do not dig through nor steal... For where your treasure is, there also is your heart” (ibid., 6, 19-21).

Consider that Jesus addressed these teachings not only to the Apostles, but also to the disciples and to all the crowds that followed Him. This shows that, even if not all must make the vow of poverty - family life does not allow it - all, however, must acquire and practice “the spirit of poverty,” that is, arrive at affective detachment from earthly goods, so as not to place in them their treasure, not to seek them with greed and spirit of covetousness. Those who, like fathers and mothers of families, have the duty to administer goods and to increase them through honest work, must do so with order, that is, avoiding that business and material interests divert them from attending to the interests of the soul and duties toward God. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he then loses his soul?” (Mt. 16, 26). And for one who possesses little and lives in material straits, the spirit of poverty requires accepting serenely and with patience one’s own conditions, seeing in them an invitation to imitate more closely the life of poor Jesus. Moreover, reflect that the divine Master, in saying “sell what you have and give it to the poor,” joined the exercise of poverty to that of charity. The spirit of poverty, detaching your heart from earthly goods, must make you generous toward the needy.

2 — “Do not be over-anxious for your life, about what you shall eat or drink, nor... about what you shall wear. Is not life worth more than food and the body more than clothing? Observe the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them... And why take so much trouble about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow... If then God clothes thus the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith?” (Mt. 6, 25-30). Jesus does not forbid you to provide for your tomorrow; indeed, through the Apostle He says to you: “If anyone is unwilling to work, neither should he eat” (II Thess. 3, 10). But Jesus does not want that anxiety which swallows you up entirely in temporal affairs and which shows not only immoderate attachment to earthly things, but also little trust in divine Providence. The divine Master points out to you that if God has given you the greater, that is, life and body, He will also give you the lesser, that is, the means to preserve life and body, which are food and clothing.

The spirit of poverty will not be in you lasting and profound unless it is based on trust in divine Providence. Only if you truly trust in God and in His word, which will never fail forever, will you have the courage to set aside every excessive concern for temporal things. And then Jesus’ word will be fulfilled for you: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the rest shall be given you besides” (Mt. 6, 33).

In every state of life and in the exercise of any profession, the principal care of the Christian must be that of serving God, of tending toward Him; all the rest is secondary. St. Teresa of Jesus said to her daughters: “Having renounced fixed incomes, renounce also any excessive concern for what is necessary to life, otherwise everything would be lost... Let us not fail God, and what is necessary will never be lacking to us” (Cam. 2, 1 etc.).

Colloquy

“O Lord, this I consider a great treasure: holy poverty, where no thing is prepared by human industry, but what there is is prepared by Your divine Providence... And therefore I want to pray that You make me love with all my heart the treasure of holy poverty, which is so noble that it has You, most high God, for servant” (cf. St. Francis).

O Lord, heal me, I beg You, from my excessive anxieties for life’s necessities. In the silence of my heart I seem to hear resounding Your gentle rebuke: “It is the Gentiles who seek all these things, while your Father knows that you need all these things” (Mt. 6, 32).

O Lord, yes, You know my necessities and are not for me a stranger, but Father, and as such You have bound Yourself to provide for my needs. O Lord, strengthen my faith in Your word. Grant that my trust may be like that of St. Francis of Assisi, who felt so secure in You that he did not hesitate to return to his father not only money but also clothing and to go through the world stripped of all, happier and safer in his poverty than the rich in their riches. O blessed poverty that has God for servant! For You, O Lord, do not abandon those who trust in You, but rather are pleased to be generous and munificent with those who, leaving all for love of You, have totally entrusted themselves to Your heavenly Providence.

O Jesus, if I cannot materially leave all goods and earthly affairs, grant that at least I know how to leave every exaggerated solicitude and preoccupation for them. Grant that my only preoccupation be that of loving You and serving You with all my strength, of seeking Your friendship, Your intimacy, union with You.

To St. Catherine of Siena one day You said: “You think of Me and I will think of you.” Deign to repeat this word also to me and fix it in my mind and in my heart, so that no care for material things may be capable of distracting me from You.