Poverty January 2
In this way, no one shall perform any task for his own benefit but all your work shall be done for the common good, with greater zeal and more dispatch than if each one of you were to work for yourself alone (Rule of St. Augustine, 31).
“There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need” (Acts 4:34-35). Poverty of spirit is not an ideal without practical consequences. Being poor in spirit can never remain simply an attitude, but has to become a practical option that favors a life lived simply and according to need. What’s more, to be poor in spirit translates itself into self-forgetful hospitality and service of others. “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment” (Lk 14:12). In the end, proof of such a commitment to evangelical poverty is in the priority given to the well being of others. And the maturity of this commitment is measured by the intensity of zeal and vitality for unselfish work for others.
The bee is honored because it works, not for itself only, but for everybody. (African proverb)
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