Poverty, chastity and obedience: the three classical commitments of evangelical life, which become votes for the religious, to a superficial analysis seem to be prerogative of a few, a lien or un'autocondanna, the easy solution or a burden to the facade. For some, poverty is synonymous with misfortune, with castration chastity, obedience with weakness. Precise concepts and acceptable if Christianity is seen as the religion of subtraction, not the fullness.
If you already have something to say about chastity, today I would like to stop poverty. To many scares, but others like to live a "poverty-controlled", that want to stay away from the concerns that a comfortable life brings. But what is poverty? For Jesus is a virtue or a disadvantage?
If it is true that Jesus spoke of poverty of material inside information for his missionary apostles, although he indicated the wealth as an obstacle to the gospel life, it is also true that Jesus never praised poverty in itself, seen as deprivation. In fact, he always invited, in the wake of the Old Testament, trying to reconcile the social, defending the poor and widows.
attack the church hierarchy in many (but also the Church in general) for the luxury and wealth, sometimes with some good reason, more often it is ideological and obtuse, forgetting that such if all the religious bodies involved in social work would pay the ICI as called for by many, simply would not be able to carry out many initiatives, which then close it, not replaced by another. In fact, if the Church in Italy stopped doing social work, there would be an immediate collapse of the entire Welfare: just think of nursing homes, hospitals, schools, homes ... but it suits many to see their little truth, without stopping to catch all of these issues. Many prefer to shine the spotlight on the Church establishment and instead turn them off on the prophetic Church (as two distinct realities ... in the silence that !!!), wash the elderly and the homeless, the one who takes away the needles from the veins of the toxic in overdose, that of priests and bishops who receive home evicted families, that of nuns, religious and lay people who spend their lives to give hope to those who are born already condemned. Clear that anyone who thinks compartmentalized, or is misinformed (perhaps unconsciously), or has ulterior motives and a very clear and determined strategy.
All this to say that poverty is not the absence of goods, nor poverty, but from the conditioning and freedom from the bonds of a life compromised. Chiara Amirante has repeatedly pointed out that trying to live in poverty is to commit oneself to defeat all the unhealthy attitudes and behaviors of the tyrant need for us to take, not, in fact, to be able to truly love. Maybe for us who live in New Horizons may be easier to live a certain poverty: many of us do not really have anything, our closets are often filled with clothes that do not go to the coffers of big stores, but simply come in a bag to our gate and our refrigerators do not have salmon, caviar, meat and fillets of top quality, although certainly no one has ever died of hunger! Yet poverty exterior makes sense only if it becomes a bridge to the inner poverty, which means being ready to leave what they consider private property, which is a T-shirt last fashion or that it is an idea, friendship, or even spirituality. It can even be rich in Christ Jesus, so jealous of the relationship that we live with him, do not want to participate with anyone. Leaving aside that we would be unfortunate if they shout to the world as it can enter into deep relationship with Jesus after we had discovered, certainly can not think that poverty has to be stopped externality: the behavior is just another facade. It is not enough then divest assets if you are not willing to strip themselves: the reference is to Jesus Christ, "which despite being of God, did not consider something to be grasped his equality with God but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave and becoming like men "(Philippians 2:6-8).
This means that even those who have houses and bank accounts can experience the real poverty, that is using the goods, but willing to leave them in a moment, even the rich can aspire to develop economically in himself an attitude of authentic Poverty, reflected a capacity to love free and free.
Even some people in the Church are in danger of being rich, for example of his own spirituality, how many years charisms bestowed by the Holy Spirit we are off because they are closed to them, not living the logic of that mission, by its very nature, is poor for free and without seeking personal gain! How many pastoral initiatives have foundered because it created with the aim of keeping alive a structure, an initiative or an associative way! What is not free, disinterested and poor has not much future.
All of this is poverty, not measurable from swelling of the portfolio, but only by the opening of the heart.
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