Money and the spirit of poverty

MANY times, we are given the impression that money and the

Christian spirit of poverty are incompatible. To a certain extent,

there is some truth to that view.

            Even St. Paul went to the extent of saying that, “the love

of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they

have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many

sorrows.” (1 Tim 6,10) We do not have to look far to verify the

undeniable truth of these words.

            But we need to remind ourselves also that money in itself

is not an inherent evil. It is when we fall into an improper

attachment to it that it becomes an evil or, better said, a tool for

evil. But in itself, if handled properly, it can in fact be a tool for

doing a lot of good and of glorifying God.

            We just have to make sure that our attitude toward money

is inspired by our love for God and for others, and the way we deal

with it faithfully reflects the will of God which definitely is for

our own salvation and the salvation of everyone.

            Only then can we apply the use of money in accordance to

Christ’s words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be

also.” (Mt 6,21) Only then can we say that money will show how much we

love God, rather than how depraved we have fallen.

            This should be the perspective within which money and its

creation and use should be viewed. In this context, we can even say

that we can and should develop a healthy love for money which is not

for anything other than to glorify God and to truly serve our needs,

without falling into the anomalies of pride, greed, lust and the like.

            I would even go to the extent of saying that we should not

be afraid to become millionaires or even billionaires if our pursuit

for money is in accordance to this perspective. Only then can we say

that the apparent oxymoron of being both rich in money but poor in

spirit according to one of the beatitudes would be happily achieved.

            But we should neither forget that the pursuit for money

according to this spirit will always involve a lot of suffering too.

This is unavoidable and is actually a clear sign that we are taking

the right path. We should be ready for this aspect, unafraid and eager

to face the challenge, bear the burden and tackle the trials.

Temptations will surely abound and stressful moments will surely come

aplenty.

            Of course, this is easier said than done. That’s why we

need to constantly examine ourselves and rectify our intentions,

seeing to it that all our transactions are in accordance to the will

of God and the objective good of all of us.

            Many times we have to pause and review the way we generate

and use money, and to make appropriate consultations just to make sure

that we avoid falling into the subtle traps of inordinate attachments,

greed, etc. Yes, a certain transparency is needed here, a system of

checks-and-balances also has to be installed.

            More importantly, we have to toughen ourselves and arm

ourselves with the appropriate moral and spiritual means and weapons

to carry out the heavy responsibilities involved in this matter.

            In this regard, I was happy to meet someone who talked to

me about the importance of savings and of investing in stocks. It kind

of made me of aware of the intricacies of the different instruments

that can be used to generate money and to contribute to the common

good.

            Yes, a certain financial literacy is also needed by

everyone, including those involved in the works of charity and

spiritual and pastoral ministries. Money can and should be an

important element in our spirit of poverty.

Burning with desire

GIVEN our notorious tendency to fall into spiritual

lukewarmness and complacency, if not coldness, we need to often exert

conscious effort to burn with desire and to light up our fire to love

God and everybody else. We cannot deny that we often are good only at

the beginning of an activity but peter out later on. We need to be

guarded against this tendency.

            This is actually what is proper and ideal for us. We are

meant for this condition of being fervent in our desire as long as it

is properly motivated and oriented, and also as long as we use our

faculties properly, that is, without abusing and stretching them too

much. Yes, a certain restraint and moderation is also needed here.

Let’s always give due attention to the limitations of our bodily

dimension.

            This burning desire should start in our mind and heart, in

our spiritual powers before it is manifested in our senses and our

bodily parts. Of course, our senses and bodily organs, once properly

animated, can also help in sustaining the ardor in our spiritual

faculties. Hopefully, we can keep a mutually perpetuating cycle of our

bodily and spiritual faculties in the service of desire out of love.

            In this, we should be inspired by the example of that

woman with haemorrhages who, out of fervent desire, struggled to touch

the cloak of Christ despite the thick crowd. (cfr. Mk 5,21-43), or of

Mary Magdalene who, in spite of the difficulties, visited the tomb of

Christ in haste. There are actually many characters in the gospel who

manifested this burning desire to see Christ in spite of all odds.

            We can cite the example of the paralytic who was brought

by his friends to see Christ. Since they could not get close to him

due to the crowd, they went up to the roof, bore a hole there and

lowered the paralytic until he was right before Christ. Christ was so

impressed by their burning desire that the healing that was asked was

given pronto. (cfr. Mk 2,1-12)

            Or that blind man, Bartimaeus, who in spite of his

condition, could not be restrained by those around him as he shouted

to get the attention of Christ. Again, Christ was impressed by the

fervor of his faith. (cfr. Mk 10,46-52)

            Since in our piety there are things that we do often and

regularly, like praying, going to Mass, etc., we need to see to it

that our desire to show genuine love for God and others through these

acts is maintained. We cannot deny that if we are not careful, we can

easily fall into routine, and before we know it, we can appear to be

more dead than alive when doing these acts of piety.

            What can help is to repeat many times during the day many

small acts of faith, hope and charity, in the form of spontaneous

aspirations and ejaculatory prayers. They can serve as little twigs to

maintain the waning embers of our piety if not to fan that dying piety

into a bursting fire.

            Of particular interest is our desire to receive Christ in

communion, which practically constitutes the summit of our love for

him here on earth. We can formulate some acts of spiritual communion

to keep that desire burning and to prepare us adequately to receive

him in actual communion.

            We really need to be always in this state of burning

desire in spite of the condition of our body. As said earlier, it is

first of all a matter of exercising our spiritual faculties to ask for

the grace of fervent love. Let us hope that we know how to do this. We

can only expect many good things that can come from this, in spite of

the varying conditions and situations in our life, many of them, quite

adverse to our spiritual health.

Please be welcoming to God

THIS should be the attitude to have in our relation with

God. He always takes the initiative to come to us, to knock at our

heart’s door. We should be welcoming to him, and more than that, we

should be appreciative of his love and concern for us and learn to

correspond by knowing, thanking and loving him better each day.

            Toward this end, we may just need a few moments to touch

base with this reality and to make it our guiding spirit all

throughout the day. We have to feel this need for him, for without

him, we can only do nothing, or worse, the only possibility left for

us is to sin.

            Christ spelled out this innate need for God when he said:

“I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in me,

and I in him will bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do

nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is

thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into

the fire and burned…” (Jn 15,5-6)

            Thus, we have to learn the art of praying, or spending a

few moments of meditation, which is not only a matter of technique but

more, that of learning how to be with God. A few minutes of meditation

is like the refueling and the recharging that we need to make us going

properly throughout the day.

            Remember that God first created us. And upon our creation,

he took the initiative to establish a personal relationship with us.

He talked to our first parents, gave them some instructions. And even

if our first parents, and then us, messed up the original plan of God,

he did not sever that relationship with us.

            Yes, there was and will be divine anger and punishment

because of our sins, but he will never abandon us, unless we dare to

abandon him. But it is his love for us, shown most especially in his

gratuitous mercy he offers to us, that would contain all the

aberrations we tend to commit.

            Let’s take comfort in what a psalm says about God our

Father: “His anger is fleeting but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping

may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.” (30,5) Let’s keep

these reassuring words always in mind.

            We should just try our best to be welcoming to him and to

correspond to his will and ways, which is for no other reason but for

our own good. We have to realize that the best condition we can be in

any given time is when we are with him, actively and intimately

corresponding to his will.

            Let’s remember that more than us it is he who is shaping

and directing our life. We should never dare to shape and direct our

life by our lonesome. Not even with the help of many others on whom we

can count in some ways. We have to remember that our life is a life of

sharing with God. It is a life of communion with him.

            We have to be wary of our tendency to do things on our

own. Especially these days when we seem to be able to accomplish many

things with hardly any reference to God, or when we are intoxicated by

our own powers and achievements, we have to deliberately humble

ourselves so we would always feel the need for God.

            Praying is the most fundamental thing we need to do to

keep that relationship with God. And it need not be a matter of saying

so many vocal prayers. It is more a state of mind, a way of life where

in our own very personal and unique ways, we are conscious that we are

with God and doing things with him. We have to be men and women of

prayer!