Poverty

“…‘Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’” (Matthew 19:24).

Saint Louis IX of France

So many of the great Saints lived in poverty.  Saint Clare of Assisi lived in the Middle Ages in terrible poverty for love of God.  She and the sisters in her order, the Poor Clares, went without shoes their entire lives.  Walking barefoot they endured heat and cold and discomfort of the ground.  They never ate meat and only accepted the left over scraps that others chose not to  eat – much of that food was not really fit for human consumption.  They lived without whatever comforts were available at the time.  And they did this willingly.

There order was so extreme that when Saint Clare approached Saint Francis of Assisi to ask him to support her establishment of her order, he initially refused, claiming that the way of life was too restricted and too poor to be adopted.  And yet, Saint Clare prevailed upon him and eventually convinced the Saint – her friend – that she would be offering this sacrifice to God and that such a sacrifice was worthwhile.

This is not to say that if we have wealth that we cannot be holy.

There are also some Saints who were rich and well known.  Saint Louis IX of France was a French king of the 13^th century, who is the only French King to have been canonised a Saint.  He was known – even during his lifetime for his piety and for his work during the Crusades.  It was this Saint who commissioned the building of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

And so, one of these Saints was incredibly poor and the other was incredibly rich, but both practiced POVERTY and that is the real measure of holiness.  In both cases, these Saints were detached from material things.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’  Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:23-26).

I am not called to be a lord of the earth.  This fleeting place is not my destination.  I am journeying to Heaven – that is the calling of my life and in my soul.  And in that calling I am asked to travel lightly.  This is not to say that I cannot settle at a nice café and admire the scenery as I travel along, but rather, it means that I must understand that all those lovely spots along the way are merely that – stops on the journey.

They are not my destination, and I must be cautious not to rest too long.  For the way of the Cross is hard and my God died naked upon that Tree.  And that tells me that perhaps I need to travel a little more lightly.  And only a spirit of poverty will allow me to do that!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.