VALUE OF SPIRITUAL POVERTY


WEDNESDAY, TWENTY THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

1 Cor 7:25-31; Ps 45:11-12,14-17; Lk 6:20-26

Happy are You who are Poor

We have identified ‘self’ as the usual mask of the evil one, which he uses to enter our souls to steal, kill, and destroy. To do this, he makes us focus on what we possess, whether physical or spiritual gifts. Once we focus on ourselves and these divine gifts, it becomes easy for him to stir pride in us. Hence, Saint Paul asked the Corinthians a fundamental question: “What do you have that is not given to you? If it is given, why boast about it?” When we boast of anything we possess, we have already lost God, the giver of the gift. If our attention is on God in Jesus Christ, then we will boast in God, in what he does in us and through us. We boast in the Lord only when our attention is solely on him, and we understand that we are nothing without God. Awareness of ourselves as nothing before God is the groundwork for solid spiritual life. The spiritual Fathers call this true knowledge of ourselves the beginning of the science of holiness. One who is solidly established in this knowledge cannot be moved or swayed by the devil to pride; and if pride is barred from entry, no other capital sin or vice would gain entrance. Hence, we understood the Blessed Virgin Mary’s profound humility as the fortification against sin, evil, and the devil.

We need the virtue of humility to follow the Son of Man. This queen virtue gives birth to poverty of spirit that makes us long for the riches and blessings of heaven. Our Lord affirms this understanding in the Gospel as he pronounces blessings on his disciples. “Fixing his eyes on his disciples Jesus said: ‘How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God. Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied. Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.” The poverty referred to here is beyond material poverty. This is clear from our consideration above. Those who are materially poor have an advantage over those endowed with material riches only because their poverty predisposes them to look up to God and gain the necessary spiritual poverty. Hence, the Lord added: “Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven.” These trials can easily be borne by the lowly and materially poor. Attachment to worldly riches and fame makes these unbearable for the rich. With riches, we desire to command admiration and people’s praise more than witnessing for the Lord. The Lord warns against this. “But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now. Alas for you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Alas for you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.” Worldly possessions give comfort, which makes us lose the desire for heaven and not desire to weep now.

Saint Paul’s admonition on celibacy and continence is based on this spiritual principle. Marriage requires the love and concerns of the spouses for each other; the giving and taking of these make a huge demand on the spouses. The ability to manage these demands and make them salutary by subordinating them to the required desire for the Lord Jesus Christ is not a common grace. The rarity of the grace is not from God’s side because every grace is superabundantly given in Christ. It is uncommon due to our ignorance of the meaning of Christian marriage and lack of cooperation with the grace of God. The first marriage of every Christian soul is to Jesus Christ as prophesied in the psalm. “Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house. So will the king desire your beauty: He is your lord, pay homage to him.” So, our first love is Jesus Christ, and our greatest desire must be to please him. The lack of this understanding is the source of many troubles for married couples. Paul therefore advised: “I believe that in these present times of stress this is right: that it is good for a man to stay as he is. If you are tied to a wife, do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then do not look for one. But if you marry, it is no sin, and it is not a sin for a young girl to get married. They will have their troubles, though, in their married life, and I should like to spare you that.” The basis of his advice is that the world is passing away; our focus and interest must remain on Christ Jesus.

Let us pray: O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CALLED TO KNOW AND PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL

Image
THE CONVERSION SAINT PAUL, APOSTLE Acts 22:3-16; Ps 117; Mk 16:15-18 Proclamation of the Gospel of the New Covenant Celebrating the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul brings us to a deeper reflection on the meaning and implication of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. As Paul himself narrated in the first reading to his people in Jerusalem, he was so zealous in the practice of Judaism, the religion of his fathers, that his eyes were closed to the new realities and relations God had brought into existence. Though these new realities and relations were prophesied by the prophets and the Law pointed to them, Paul and many of his contemporaries were blind to them. His words are: “I am a Jew and was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors. In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you are today.” These words of Paul testify that zeal without the knowledge of the will o...
Read more

GOD IS LOVE

Image
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS   Deut 7:6-11; Ps 103:1-4,6-8,10; 1 Jn 4:7-16; Mt 11:25-30 Great Things hidden from the Wise We celebrate the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ is a mystery, as coming from the mystery of the Son of Man. The human heart of Jesus Christ is a symbol and reality of the love of the Son of Man for his brothers and sisters. It is a human representation of the heart or love of the Son of God for us, his own people and creatures. As he revealed in Heb 2:14, that he took on our nature, that he may share everything in common with us. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death.” The Father brought us into existence to be the inheritance and the companions of His Beloved Son. The love of the Son for his own could not let him be, but made him take on our nature and appear among ...
Read more

ESTABLISHING OURSELVES IN HIS PRESENCE

Image
THE 6TH DAY OF OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS     1 Jn 2:12-17; Ps 96:7-10; Lk 2:36-40 Recognising the Incarnate Word for Self The Church, in the opening prayer, prays for the new revelation of God in the flesh to commence its purpose of setting us free from the bondage of sin and servitude to evil. The fact of the Incarnation means that human nature is redeemed in principle, by God joining it to the Eternal Word in a hypostatic union. The Lamb, the Word in human flesh, is already sacrificed to God, waiting for the consummation of the sacrifice on Calvary. Thus, He already started the work of redemption in principle, each of us must now appropriate the result of the redemption. The purpose of his appearance in human flesh is that he may enter our minds as God, who created us in love. He comes to receive us back into his company; this requires he enters the temple within each of us. We must recognise what he has already done for the love of us and respond in a similar gesture b...
Read more