Now, just as the sub-matter of the snow,
beneath the blows of the warm rays, is stripped
of both its former colour and its cold,
so is your mind left bare of error; I
would offer now to you a new form, light
so living that it trembles in your sight.
Only degenerated hymns sing primarily about who we are, using God as an exclamation point to our assertion of ourselves. Such liturgical gestures easily run the danger of the prayers of the publicly pious man of Jesus' parable, "who stood and prayed thus with himself". As one mid-twentieth-century had it, "Thank you God, for making us us". No. Rather, the [liturgical] meeting is appropriately about God.
I think poverty is twofold - it is a sort of mental attitude towards all the material world in general, but also specifically a physical deprivation of material objects. By the first kind I mean a sort of detachment from the objects of material world that allow one to use them as if not using them and posses them as if not possessing. In practice this means that a man treats all his possessions as dispensable and is ready to share them if a need arises (obviously within limits of his responsibilities towards others - especially his closest family). I think this sort of poverty is absolutely essential for every Christian, if he's not to become enslaved by his riches.
The second kind, which in its extreme forms, as represented by St Francis, equalling total destitution, is somewhat more difficult both to practice and to justify. In fact in practice we are all very removed from the ideal of our great Founder - we have houses, cars etc. I don't think this is in all cases a perversion of the Franciscan spirit, but at the same time, I think that it is a mistake to hold that it is essential for a friar to sustain only the first type of poverty (the mental attitude) and not to think it needs to be accompanied by the actual renunciation of worldly goods.
Poverty is not a denial of the inherent goodness of all created world, quite the contrary. The virtue of poverty is precisely in giving up what is good -there's little merit in avoiding what is actually harmful to you. However in rejecting possessions a friar states in a very clear way the superiority of the Creator over the creation. Although the creation is good, for the sake of the Creator we renounce it.
No one lives the Christian life perfectly. In my life, I've known dumb Jesuits, confused Dominicans, proud Capuchins, rich Franciscans, and Salesians who can't stand small children! I've known merciless Sisters of Mercy and uncharitable Missionaries of Charity and foolish Daughters of Wisdom...
Hannah's new home!
