Parable and Conscience Meditation December 14

Poverty  December 14

The call to evangelical poverty invites us to enter into solidarity with the poor and needy . . . either by living as they do or by working to promote their social progress (Const. 12.2).

Our Order has always appreciated confreres of courage who have worked among the poorest of the world.  For the Crosiers, this means particularly the confreres in Brazil, in the Congo and in West Papua (Indonesia).  Every time there is an international meeting, the confreres are attentive to the work of these brothers, thanking them always for their witness.  Among them are some very heroic men who have abandoned the style of life of their community, however simple that may have been in the circumstances, to assume a more radical life-style, responding to the misery around them.  They have gone to live with the people in houses like theirs, eating their food, risking all their illnesses, knowing their social insecurity.  They have opted to live in the same way as the poor, a special grace even for religious.  If we cannot imitate their practice, we can always imitate their devotion to the liberation of the poor.  No matter where we are, we can always be the voice of the voiceless.

Even if your mind is full of the knowledge of God, if you don't do God's works, it's useless.  (Mai)