22 Aug 2017
Poverty isn’t something most people aspire to. And, yet, poverty is an essential part of
hearing the gospel and responding to it.
And so, to live as a disciple of Christ means sometimes going against
what it is we’d rather do. We’d rather
not live in poverty, and yet the Lord encourages us to go down that path.
But by poverty the Lord doesn’t mean destitution; he means
freedom of spirit. To be “poor in
spirit” is to be free to follow God’s lead; to do and to live as God inspires
us—without worrying about this or that or the next thing. St. Clare said, “Hold everything with a light
grasp.” And that’s not only material
things, but also our attitudes. Live in
poverty, be “poor in spirit,” and be freer and less worried.
We hear today about Gideon and his struggle not only with
God, but with his only attitude about himself as an instrument of God. We see that he was clinging too much to his
expectations of God, and also clinging too much to his own limited view of
himself. It wasn’t until he became “poor
in spirit,” that he could let God’s will be God’s will, and that he could see
in himself something that, before, only God could see. To live in poverty was a great benefit to
Gideon.
On this Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, we recall that
what led her to be crowned as Queen of Heaven was her having lived in
poverty. “Let it be done to me according
to your word,” she said to the angel of the Lord. Whatever fears or expectations she had, she
let them go in order to simply be who and what God had created her to be.
If we desire life and happiness, if we want the world opened
up to us, what’s maybe one area of life where we can “let go and let God?” It’s worth it to consider that question
because, as we know, “blessed are the poor in spirit; theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven.”
No comments:
Post a Comment