The Coin of Poverty

Today, I would like to talk about poverty. I regard this issue as a very difficult one. On the one hand, poverty is a state which consists in lacking of essentials such as food, shelter and clothing. On the other hand, poverty is a Christian virtue which leads us to renounce to worldly things in order to be closely united to God (see CEC 2544).

From this point of view, the Church wants to alleviate poverty (poverty as a state) and to encourage poverty (poverty as a Christian virtue) at the same time.

Now, how are we to reconcile those two ‘poverties’?—It seems there is no easy answer. Imagine a world without poor. Would it be a perfect world from a Christian point of view?—Not necessarily, since this environment could lead us to start loving riches which is something opposed to Jesus’ Gospel.

Conversely, imagine a world where everyone practises the virtue of poverty. Would it be a perfect world from a Christian point of view?—Not necessarily either. As long as there be people lacking of essentials, this will not be a perfect world.

Things get a little bit more complicated when we come to the Beatitude which reads ‘Blessed are the poor’. It is true that Mathew’s version says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3), which lead us to think Jesus is talking about the Christian virtue of poverty. But it is also true that Luke’s version just says, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20).

To whom the blessing is addressed?

a) To the ones in need (poverty as a state)

b) To the virtuous (poverty as a Christian virtue)

c) To both of them

d) To none of them

I think the correct alternative is letter c) for the following reasons:

First, it is undeniable that Jesus praises the virtue of poverty. Mathew’s wording couldn’t be more explicit in this regard: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). Additionally, in the parable of the talents, the one who received more talents (the richest of the three) was awarded by God for having managed his talents wisely. This one was poor in spirit (see Mt 25:14-30).

And second, it is also true that Jesus identifies himself with the needy. “For I was hungry and you gave me food (…) As you did with the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:35, 40).

All in all, this difficult issue of poverty shows two different sides. On the one side, we are to love the poor and strive to alleviate poverty. God identifies himself with the poor and asks us to feed them and to clothe them. On the other side, we are to become poor as Jesus encouraged his disciples to do in order to follow him more closely.

Last week Pope Francis visited Assisi. The Pope highlighted how these two aspects were present in the life of Saint Francis: “[Saint Francis’] encounter with Jesus led him to strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse ‘Lady Poverty’ and to live as a true son of our heavenly Father. This decision of Saint Francis was a radical way of imitating Christ: he clothed himself anew, putting on Christ, who, though he was rich, became poor in order to make us rich by his poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). In all of Francis’ life, love for the poor and the imitation of Christ in his poverty were inseparably united, like the two sides of the same coin.”

A Worthwhile Investment

Yesterday Pope Francis arrived to celebrate the 28^th World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Why did Pope Francis, being as poor as he is, come to Brazil?—I think one can find a good answer in yesterday’s first speech of Pope Francis.

“As you know, the principal reason for my visit to Brazil goes beyond its borders. I have actually come for World Youth Day. I am here to meet young people coming from all over the world, drawn to the open arms of Christ the Redeemer. They want to find a refuge in his embrace, close to his heart, to listen again to his clear and powerful appeal: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’”

Three conclusions follow:

First, Pope Francis is not doing tourism.

Second, the Pope has gone to Brazil to meet young people from all over the world.

Third, young people are going to find refuge in Christ and also to listen once again to his last commissioning recounted by Matthew (28:19): “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

I have never attended a WYD. I wish I had. As I am not young any more I think I will content myself with attending some day the World Family Day (perhaps the 2015 one in Philadelphia). In any case, I commit myself to pray for the fruits of this WYD. Especially, I will pray that every single young Christian who has travelled to Rio learn what Pope Francis has already said: That Jesus is asking us to spread his good news.

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked me if I hadn’t thought that maybe if I had been born in Muslim culture I would have been Muslim and not Christian. The point he wanted to make is that religion has only to do with culture. I was born in a Christian culture, I am Christian, and full stop.

I think my friend was only partly right. Undoubtedly, if I were born in Algeria I would have had 98% chances of being Muslim. I totally agree.

However, Christianity is a religion that began in one specific culture, and its first members were just twelve apostles, Holy Mary and some other women. What happened is that these few people took seriously the commissioning of Jesus quoted by Pope Francis yesterday: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” They went into the whole world and Christianity began to spread to different cultures, languages and continents.

My friend is right when he suggests that I am probably Christian because my parents were Christians. And that my parents were Christians because my grandparents were Christians and so on. But at some point we will find that one of my ancestors was not Christian by birth. He/she heard the word of God and converted to Christianity and received the sacrament of Baptism. Besides, each one in the chain decided to keep the Christian faith, and for that very reason baptised his/her children. Therefore, I am grateful to them all. To the one who converted to Christianity and to the ones who handed our faith on to the following generation. All of them fulfilled the commissioning of Christ.

May God help us all to continue our chain, keeping our faith and handing on to our children. But may God also help us to begin new chains by converting people that surround us, as the Apostles did two thousand years ago.

“Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). This is the message of Pope Francis and the reason his trip. What a worthwhile investment!

Out of His Car

The Pope said last week: “Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”

This quote from Pope Francis’ homily at the beginning of his petrine ministry sets a clear hierarchy of values: God, man, creation.

However, the first part of the sentence is rather striking: “Let us protect Christ.” It is like saying “The Lord is my sheep,” rather than “The Lord is my Shepherd” (Ps 23:1). How can I protect the same person I address as my Lord?—Indeed, the word “Lord” implies that He is the Protector and I the protected.

I will attempt an answer, borrowing a verse from John, “And the Word was made flesh.” (Jn 1:14). I would paraphrase John’s verse as, “And the Protector was made an object of protection.” God did something none of us would ever have done. It can be compared to getting out of your car in the middle of the night in a dangerous neighbourhood. Unconceivable, and highly risky.

However, God decided that He had something very important to do in our neighbourhood, and got out of his glory. This  seems not logic. God is omnipotent enough to skip this part of the history of our redemption. Nonetheless, whether or not this is logic can be discussed in a future post. The important thing to bear in mind now is that God did get out of his glory, make himself an object of protection. We are now entitled to be the caretakers of God.

It can be argued, though, that for Christ this is no longer the case, because it is all over. From this perspective, Jesus was an object of protection but now is not anymore. Christ is safe and sound (and resurrected) in Heaven. Saint Mary, Saint Joseph and Jesus’ disciples were blessed because they had the chance to protect Christ. An honour we do not have had.

This is only partly correct. Although it is true that Jesus is risen and in Heaven, there is evidence that Christ is still an object of protection. The Catechism Catholic Church teaches the following:

1373      “Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us,” is present in many ways to his Church: in his word, in his Church’s prayer, “where two or three are gathered in my name,” in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the person of the minister. But “he is present . . . most especially in the Eucharistic species.”

According to this, in at least seven ways, Christ is still getting out of his car. And we have the honour to do our best to protect him.