Parable and Conscience Meditation January 7

Poverty  January 7

. . . then these latter ought to consider how far these others have come in passing from their life in the world down to this life of ours (Rule of St. Augustine, 17).

In the great spiritual tradition of the Crosiers, the whole of life is seen as a way of the Cross that leads to resurrected life.  All the elements of the charism (the vows, the three pillars, the spirituality of the Cross) are, in effect, an invitation to participate in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus.  Evangelical poverty illustrates this very well.  To abandon all human security in order to confide oneself into the hands of the Provident God is to die.  One dies in accepting willing or unwilling privations so as to be more effective in the mission of Christ.  It is death to relativize personal needs, giving priority to the needs of others.  To lift one’s voice in protest against attitudes, structures and decisions that offend against justice is to die.  What a resurrected person one is in dying:  free, strong, compassionate, courageous!  Observing the vow of poverty is a passage to incomparable riches.  The Crosier who dies to himself by the practice of poverty is the Crosier risen to new life.

It is better to have a stiff neck looking up in the air than to become a hunchback looking down.  (Senegal)

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 6

Poverty  January 6

We find the deepest source of inspiration for this form of life in the life of Christ: “he was rich, but he became poor for your sake” (2 Cor. 8: 9) (Const. 12.2).

When Jesus descended into the waters of the Jordan, there were two flashes of revelation.  The first was the great splash of the water that cried out Jesus’ desire to enter into solidarity with the poor human condition of his brothers and sisters.  “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"  Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Mt. 3:13-15).  Son of God, he wished to be known as Son of man in every sense.  The second flash of revelation at the Jordan was the voice of his Father who expressed his agreement with the messianic mission of Jesus.  “And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Mt. 3:17).  By the vow of poverty, the consecrated person identifies with Jesus revealing solidarity with humanity.  What flashes of revelation occur in my practice of the vow of poverty?

If a hat falls into a field of cotton, it has fallen into its family.  (Marka)

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 5

Poverty  January 5

Our practice of poverty should not diminish adult responsibility or foster immature dependence on the superior (Const. 13.5).

Augustinian religious life has nothing to do with childish relationships between superiors and members.  It is a community of adults, each one exercising proper Christian responsibility.  What is an adult?  The adult is a person who has grown up, a person who has developed to a certain maturity.  Psychologically, it is a man or woman who has the knowledge and qualities of character to direct personal, family, civic, business and Church life in a mature way.  When Jesus counseled us to become as children, did he refuse to honor this natural movement created by his Father?  No.  He was speaking of a deeper maturity.  And when Theodore and his companions left the Cathedral of Liège to found the Crosier Order, was that an escape to childish religious fantasies?  Quite the contrary:  it was a reform of a certain clerical childishness that rejected true evangelical responsibility.  And I, how do I behave in my community as a disciple of Jesus and companion of Theodore today?

What the heart ardently desires makes the legs march.  (Rwanda)

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 4

Poverty  January 4

Let not your mouths alone take nourishment but let your hearts too hunger for the word of God (Rule of St. Augustine, 15).

The Eucharist is a meal in two courses.  It is the same food, that is, the Christ, which is served, but in two different ways.  The best known Eucharistic course is the bread become the Body of Christ and the wine become his Blood.  This is real nourishment taken by the mouth to feed the heart.  It fills the whole person with Divine Love and builds the community.  The other course is the Word.  It is taken by ear for digestion in the heart.  The Word is real bread, the Christ, which feeds and strengthens the spirit by an illumination leading to an authentic Christian life.  The tradition of the Church extends this second course by the personal or communal practice of “lectio divina,” or Bible reading.  The reason is clear:  taking this nourishment deepens hunger like gas inflames fire.  In the case of the Word, if one is not hungry after having eaten, one has not eaten sufficiently.  Take and eat again.

Do not let yourself get caught by a blade of grass, without understanding that it plunges its roots in the earth from where it gets its force.  (Toucouleur)

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 3

Poverty  January 3

So whenever you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know that you are growing in charity (Rule of St. Augustine, 31).

At the Last Judgment, what will separate the sheep from the goats?  It won’t be the quantity or quality of the Christian’s theology, or the fervor or frequency of prayers, or the religious customs one observes.  It won’t be the monk’s habit, or one’s ecclesiastical status, or the pastoral fame one has attained.  No, what will separate the sheep from the goats will be those small, humanitarian acts toward others either done in the name of Christ or omitted through negligence.  These humanitarian acts will recommend or not to the Kingdom of God.   It is care for others that is the measure of Christian holiness.  “Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’  And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me . . . what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me’” (Mt. 25: 37-40, 45).

The mongoose has left, but you can still smell the odor of its musk.  (Ntomba) 

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 2

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)

Parable and Conscience Meditation January 1

Poverty  January 1

We accept this life of . . . poverty . . .  in community as a public testimony to God’s Lordship and active presence in the world.  Religious life is a witness to the transcendent that is present in the world of human existence (Const. 10.6).

One day, in the central plaza of Assisi, in full view of the clergy, shopkeepers, public officials, parents and friends, a rich young man took off his clothes and, turning around, walked away completely naked.  What shame for his family!  What embarrassment for his companions!  What scandal for the clergy!  He had every advantage for a life of ease.  His businessman father lacked nothing.  Coming from an influential family, his social position was already assured.  What madness, this act of renunciation!  Where did he get these antisocial and revolutionary ideas?  In effect, it was the moment when Francis made his first profession of the vow of poverty.  He took his direction without looking back and without ever going back.  A while after this initial gesture of his evangelical commitment, to be consequent, he covered himself with the burlap that the insignificant people of his society wore.   It was a sign of his changing his social position and his world view.  I ask myself:  what are the gestures and signs that witness to evangelical radicalism in me?

We are here, our head bent toward the earth to build houses and we forget that we are strangers on earth.  (Luba)