“When Jesus saw the
crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to
him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in
spirit … . ‘”[1]
So begins this section of Matthew’s Gospel that is referred to as Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:1-12 is known as The
Beatitudes; designated as such by Biblical translators and outliners since they
outline supreme blessings for those that accept and assimilate these sayings
into their way of life.
In the Benedictine tradition, monks profess vows of Obedience,
Stability, and Conversatio Morum (Conversion of Life). Oblates of Saint
Benedict do not profess vows but, rather, make solemn promises to the
principles contained in the vows.
Although Poverty and Chastity are not explicitly included in
the vows and promises, they are implicitly inherent in the Benedictine
community. The Church, as well, has long held and recommended the Evangelical
Councils (Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience) to be of great value in the life of
every Christian disciple.[2]
We are, through understanding and
applying these Councils, better abled to live in a way that allows us to
realize our freedom in Christ by overcoming the reign of sin[3]
that will always prevail when life is governed by sensuality and inordinate
affections.[4]
Simply put, without personal measures of self-abnegation
there can be little progress in the development of spiritual freedom and
holiness. We give up ourselves in order to attain to something (someone) far
greater than ourselves. This giving up of ourselves in order to attain is the
basic premise of the vows and promises made by Benedictine monks and Oblates.
This giving up of ourselves in order to attain is also the basic premise of the
Evangelical Councils in guiding Christ’s disciples in all stations of life.
“This message of mine
is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all,
and armed with the strong weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King,
Christ the Lord.”[5]
Poverty, whether we are addressing poor in spirit or poor in
pocket, is not a popular theme in this world of modern televangelism where the
Scriptures are bent in a way to make it appear that material wealth and
prosperity are the birthright of every follower of Christ. This modern
prosperity theology, to me, creates a significant and felonious reversal in
roles where God then owes me material wealth and prosperity rather than me owing God everything
that I am and everything that I have.
There are large measures of humility in being poor in spirit. There are also large
measures of humility in being poor in
pocket. Poverty has a way of annihilating pride, especially when it is something entered into voluntarily. It is a pretty simple formula. The less we have
… the less we have to deceive us … the less we have to be prideful of.
Benedictine monks, and other professed religious as well,
vow to live as owners of nothing. Owning
nothing material is one of the aspects of the monastic way of life within the
monastery.
It is extremely difficult to live as an owner of nothing outside of the monastery as an Oblate.
It is extremely difficult to live as an owner of nothing outside of the monastery as an Oblate.
Here, in the world outside the monastery, we are responsible
for the basic necessities of life. Some of us are married. Some of us have
children still in the home. Some of us have grown older and are dealing with
other age-related things. Oblates live in a different world than our brothers
and sisters in the monastery. Here, in the world, we are faced with numerous
different responsibilities.
How do we, as Oblates and others, embrace the element of
poverty implicit in Benedictine spirituality and named as one of the 3
Evangelical Councils?
The first step in embracing poverty is to realize that poor
and poverty are not dirty words or diseases to be avoided. They are, at least
they can be, good words full of meaning. They can be good words reflecting
depths of spiritual wealth and well-being.
The second step is to realize that the degree to which we
can embrace the Council of Poverty will always be governed by our
life-commitments and the responsibilities that surround these life-commitments.
Though it is extremely difficult to live as an owner of
nothing outside of the monastery as an Oblate, we can, as Oblates and others,
choose to become owners of less. We can choose to lighten the wearying load
that we carry day in and day out by requiring less. We can choose to live with
a smaller and lighter footprint that demands less from an already overtaxed
environment. We can choose to be clearer reflections of the light of Christ in a world that
is growing darker.
There is a lot that we can do in the spirit of poverty.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
[1]
Matthew 5:1-3a
[2]
Catechism, 915, p. 262
[3]
Ibid, 908, p. 261
[4] 1
John 2:16
[5]
RB, Prologue 3
No comments:
Post a Comment