Parable and Conscience Meditation December 21

Poverty  December 21

Prudence is required in the acquisition and use of expensive technical means, as well as respect for and maintenance of goods held in common (Congolese Regional Statutes, 1.17).

Faith in the Risen Christ cannot give permission to flee the world and its reality.  There have been periods in the history of the Church when Christians despised material creation.  Closer to our own times, we have seen a struggle between the Church and science and a suspicion of human values and aspirations outside the Christian community.  The Second Vatican Council and, afterwards, our Constitutions adopted another perspective toward the world, all the while recognizing the sin that is also there.  It is true that “there is no eternal city for us in this life but we look for one in the life to come” (Heb 13:14).  But Jesus himself did not ask the Father to take Christians out of the world (Jn 17:15).   Quite the contrary, he sent them into the world (Mk 16:15).  If the Risen Christ took us on high, it was to root us more correctly and profoundly in the things here below.  To know the things of heaven should not be the occasion for forgetting the things of the earth.  It’s the opposite:  heavenly knowledge teaches us a true earthly wisdom.  What do we have to be afraid of in the Spirit of Jesus? 

Even if the elephant becomes skinny, it won’t dare cross a bridge of vines; otherwise it will fall.  (Nande)

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice;  come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 20

Poverty  December 20

Discrimination cannot be tolerated in any form (Const. 13.4).

The poor become my brothers and sisters only when I see myself as one of them.  It’s not a question of condescension, motivated by a religious spirit.  Am I really different from them?  Is there no poverty in me?  Do my body and my soul not fail me?  Don’t the seeds of death sleep in me?  Does my heart never lack tenderness, pardon, generosity?  Am I free from every temptation against what is good?  Don’t I know the “downs” of life, the limits of intelligence, the devastation of failure, the betrayal of the ideal?  How can I distance myself from others, treating them as less valuable than myself?  No, my solidarity with them is founded on my participation in the universal human condition, as it was with Christ.  If I seem different from the poor, it is more an accident of circumstances than of nature.  It’s an illusion.  A person can pretend for a time:  I can eat and drink well, be well dressed, present myself under the cover of beauty products.  But in the end, the truth of my humanity and my solidarity with the poor will be evident.  It’s better to recognize that and walk with them sooner than later.  It’s better to be who I really am. 

The belly of a pig in the forest is the same as the belly of a pig in the village.  (Yaka)

O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven:  come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 19

Poverty  December 19

. . . our observance of the vow of poverty should always be fair to others and respect their rights (Const. GS13.2).

Justice does not permit having or personally using earthly goods in a way that denies the basic necessities to others.  Earth is the possession of the whole human family and each member of the family has the right to benefit from it for his/her development.  To insist on a having a superabundance of goods is to risk swallowing up too much of the already limited world’s resources, leaving the poor unjustly deprived of their most basic needs.  It’s the story of the few in the world who have the economic and technological power to manipulate the resources of the earth to the disadvantage of the many.  This is not just and cries out for the re-establishment of balance.  In the name of the New Creation in Christ, the vow of poverty models a non-materialistic way of life.  The practice of the vow invites the world to make an option for the poor.  Moreover, religious involve themselves actively in protesting against injustice through what they do not do (unjustly use goods), as well as through their prophetic message (courageously denouncing unjust practices).

The elephant is always big but respects its little ones.  (Bansu Bansu)

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples;  kings stand silent in your presence;  the nations bow down in worship before you.  Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 18

Poverty  December 18

(The Crosier) lives in a spirit of confidence in God (Profile of the Congolese Crosier).

The vow of poverty responds to the paternity/maternity of God.  If I am an orphan, i.e., someone having had to rely on his own resources, I busy myself right away in activity that secures my life.  Left alone, I am obliged to take care of myself.  But, if all of a sudden, someone adopts me, the priority I gave to my own self diminishes in importance.  In effect, God reveals himself as mother:  “Can a woman forget her baby at the breast . . . Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you” (Is. 49:15).  God relates to the human being as father:  “I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I myself took them by the arm” (Hos. 11:3).  Jesus was clear:  “I shall not leave your orphans” (Jn. 14:l8).  If this question of God-Mother and God-Father is not resolved in the human heart, the person remains always worried, preoccupied with self.  Without the confidence of being a true son or daughter who can count on motherly and fatherly love, the human person is condemned to egotism.  It’s filial confidence that is at the heart of the witness of the vow of poverty.

It is God who swats the flies of an animal without a tail.  (Minah)


O Sacred Lord of Ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:  come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 17

Poverty  December 17

This demands a sense of simplicity in food, clothing and recreation; an appreciation of the role of work; an effort to organize our lives efficiently in view of our work among people (Const. 12.3).

The norms for the evangelical use of material goods or of time include, first, “simplicity.”  Simplicity promotes styles of life which are not complicated and which are shaped by the goal of our involvement.  What I eat, how I dress and how I recreate should not be the occasion, either by their quantity or quality, to distance me from those I serve or distract me from persistence in my service.  The poor are not accustomed to luxury.  A second norm for evangelical poverty is “moderation.”  Moderation pushes me to be content with satisfying my real “needs” instead of seeking to fulfill all sorts of superfluous “desires.”  The poor are used to lacking practically everything, even bread.  In effect, by the simplicity and moderation of my life, the poor feel at home with me.  These norms permit hard and efficacious work for others.  They are a true reflection of the behavior of Jesus, aren’t they?  Do simplicity and moderation characterize my community, characterize the Church?  And how about my religious life with the confreres?

The heart is like a goat, it needs to be bound. (Basuto)

O Wisdom, holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.  Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 16

Poverty  December 16

But they who owned nothing should not look for those things in the monastery that they were unable to have in the world (Rule of St. Augustine, 6).

In the bark of the Church on the ocean of the world, we are like the Apostles were after the feeding of the four thousand (Mk. 8:12-18).  They were buffeted by erroneous questions.  They did not understand Jesus about real bread.  They remained preoccupied with ordinary bread that does not suffice for life.  Involved in our mission and forgetful of the Master who travels with us, we worry about little things of no consequence.  Jesus speaks to us about that.  He asks us not to be troubled by questions of clothing, drink and food.  But how many discussions does Jesus have to endure in our boat?  How much do we wear ourselves out with concern over physical comfort, personal security, autonomy and privileges, as though these things were our true bread.  The Lord reacts strongly against us as he did against his disciples: “Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not understand, still not realize?  Are your minds closed?”

If you bathe, bathe completely.  (Madagascar)

Parable and Conscience Meditation December 15

Poverty  December 15

Our vow of evangelical poverty signifies a common commitment to keep our minds alert and our hearts open to every need of our fellow human beings, both in our community and outside of it (Const. 12.3).

We religious are poor “by choice.”  Do the poor “by lot” find us to be brothers in real solidarity with them or simply brothers masquerading as poor?  We should ask them.  And if their spontaneous answer is to laugh at us, will we have the courage to let them disrobe us of our illusions about being in solidarity with them and so move forward toward a life more compassionate to them?  Our General Chapters have asked us many times to live as brothers who are concerned about one another.  Even more, these Chapters have encouraged us to stand beside the poor and to live in solidarity with them, particularly those in the Southern Hemisphere. The Chapters call us to a process of change and conversion that would lead us to an even greater sensitivity to the poor and their needs.  They call us also to a clearer understanding of the reality and the structural causes of poverty and, in the end, to a change of social place and style of life.  We must do it, among other reasons, so as not to risk the scorn of the world.

To bat one’s eyes doesn’t mean the eyelid can see.  (Mongo)