Could it then be possible that the distorted picture of poverty affected the lifestyle of Franciscans of the past? I read a lot about Franciscan saints and their practice of poverty was extreme. Is it possible that the stories of Franciscans of past were ‘tweaked’ to conform with the distorted picture of Franciscan poverty?
St. Francis of Assisi said he followed
“Our Lady Poverty.” They asked him if he was thinking of marrying, he said,
“yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen,” meaning his
“lady poverty.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi I can’t think of another order that I associate with material poverty more than the Franciscans. St. Francis of Assisi’s unique charism may have specifically been called by Christ and Mary to incarnate the Gospel in that particular way for
that era and place. In my imperfect knowledge, ** it was a time when the rich occupied the prime place in the Church and poor were looked down upon. At mass, the rich sat at nice seats and the poor stood at the back.**
So, take a country in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, or Africa. A devout Catholic may embrace the charism of poverty to combat the immense inequality between the rich and the poor, the oppression of the poor, the unrestricted violence and exploitation against the poor, and the fact that Christianity is of Western heritage - so the wealthy/upper-class are more likely to be the
face of Christianity in those countries. When in reality, Christ was poor.
On the Dolors of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, one of the 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church, explains the sufferings of Our Lady
http://writer.zoho.com/public/immaculate/Seven-dolors shows also how poor Christ was in childhood - see the Presentation, or the flight into Egypt, or his birth and his entire life. The Presentation is noted in
Luke 2:22-29 * “Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews and observed their religious customs. An important custom was for the couple to take their first-born son to the Temple. The baby was taken to the Temple forty days after his birth and was dedicated to God. In addition, if the parents were wealthy, they were to bring a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtle dove to be offered as a sacrifice at the Temple. The custom provided that if the parents were poor, they were to offer two pigeons or two turtle doves for the sacrifice.”*
goarch.org/special/listen_learn_share/presentation/index_html Being poor, Mary and Joseph offered two turtle doves.
So it is inaccurate to look down on the poor for their poverty. While Christ loves the rich in addition to the poor, God exalted poverty by making his only begotten Son poor.
Yet, take a country like the United States or Western Europe and poverty is less severe for all except perhaps those who live in the inner cities, the southern United States, the disabled, the elderly, the sex workers, the homeless, the Native Americans on reservations, and the immigrants. (Please forgive me and correct me if I am missing any groups.
) In this case, perhaps the connection between spiritual poverty and riches may not be as strong. In this case, a Franciscan might want to minister to the
spiritually poor to Christ-like incarnate the Gospel in today’s society.
See this article:
Spiritual poverty is worse than material poverty, Pope’s message says catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=8632
Spiritual Poverty of the West vs. Material Poverty of the East lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06063001.html commentary on one of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity who lives in Tijuana, Mexico.
From Archbishop Oscar Romero
The Violence of Love plough.com/ebooks/violenceoflove.html
Some want to keep a gospel so disembodied
that it doesn’t get involved at all
in the world it must save.
Christ is now in history.
Christ is in the womb of the people.
Christ is now bringing about
the new heavens and the new earth.
December 3, 1978
Let’s not meditate on a word that is disincarnated from reality.
It’s very easy to preach a gospel that’s the same here in El Salvador as it would be in Guatamela, or in Africa.
Of course, it’s the same gospel, just as it’s the same sun that brightenes the whole world. But just as the sunlight turns into flowers or fruits, according to the needs of the nature that receives it, so God’s word has to be incarnated in reality.
And that is what is difficult about the church’s preaching. Preaching the gospel without getting involved with reality doesn’t bring on any problems, and it’s very easy to fulfill the preacher’s mission that way.
But to cast the gospel’s universal light on our own Salvadoran miseries - and also on our Salvadoran joys and successes - that’s what is most beautiful about God’s word. That way we know Christ is talking to us, to the community of our archdiocese gathered here to meditate on his divine word.
*June 4, 1978 *
The person who feels the emptiness of hunger for God
is the opposite of the self-sufficient person.
In this sense,
rich means the proud,
rich means even the poor who have no property
but who think they need nothing, not even God.
This is the wealth that is abominable in God’s eyes,
what the humble but forceful Virgin speaks of:
“He sent away empty-handed the rich”
those who think they have everything -
“and filled with good things the hungry” -
those who have need of God.
December 3, 1978
Mother Teresa,
“Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor.” iol.ie/~hlii/theresa.html
