How to possess a rich Spirit amid real Poverty

Taken from chapter 16 of Introduction to Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.

BUT if you are really poor, my daughter, for God’s Sake be so in spirit; make a virtue of necessity, and turn that precious stone poverty194to its true value. The brilliancy thereof is not perceived in this world, but nevertheless it is very great.

Patience then! you are in good company. Our Dear Lord, Our Lady, the Apostles, numberless Saints, both men and women, were poor, and although they might have been rich, disdained to be so. How many great ones of this world have gone through many difficulties to seek holy poverty amid hospitals and cloisters! What pains they took to find it, let S. Alexis, S. Paula, S. Paulinus, S. Angela, and many another witness; whereas to you, my child, it has come unasked—you have met poverty without seeking it—do you then embrace it as the beloved friend of Jesus Christ, Who was born, lived and died in poverty, and cherished it all His Life.

There are two great privileges connected with your poverty, through which you may acquire great merit. First, it is not your own choice, but God’s Will alone, which has made you poor. Now, whatever we accept simply because it is God’s Will is acceptable in His Sight, so long as we accept it heartily and out of love:—the less of self the more of God,—and a singlehearted acceptance of God’s Will purifies any suffering very greatly.

The second privilege is, that this poverty is 195so very poor. There is a be-praised, caressed poverty, so petted and cared for, that it can hardly be called poor like the despised, contemned, neglected poverty which also exists. Now, most secular poverty is of this last kind, for those who are involuntarily poor, and cannot help themselves, are not much thought of, and for that very reason their poverty is poorer than that of religious, although religious poverty has a very special and excellent grace, through the intention and the vow by which it is accepted.

Do not complain then of your poverty, my daughter,—we only complain of that which is unwelcome, and if poverty is unwelcome to you, you are no longer poor in spirit. Do not fret under such assistance as is needful; therein lies one great grace of poverty. It were overambitious to aim at being poor without suffering any inconvenience, in other words, to have the credit of poverty and the convenience of riches.

Do not be ashamed of being poor, or of asking alms. Receive what is given you with humility, and accept a refusal meekly. Frequently call to mind Our Lady’s journey into Egypt with her Holy Child, and of all the poverty, contempt and suffering they endured. If you follow their example you will indeed be rich amid your poverty.

How to exercise real Poverty, although actually Rich

Taken from chapter 15 of Introduction of Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.

THE painter Parrhasius drew an ingenious and imaginative representation of the 189Athenians, ascribing sundry opposite qualities to them, calling them at once capricious, irascible, unjust, inconstant, courteous, merciful, compassionate, haughty, vain-glorious, humble, boastful, and cowardly;—and for my part, dear daughter, I would fain see united in your heart both riches and poverty, a great care and a great contempt for temporal things.

Do you take much greater pains than is the wont of worldly men to make your riches useful and fruitful? Are not the gardeners of a prince more diligent in cultivating and beautifying the royal gardens than if they were their own? Wherefore? Surely because these gardens are the king’s, to whom his gardeners would fain render an acceptable service. My child, our possessions are not ours,—God has given them to us to cultivate, that we may make them fruitful and profitable in His Service, and so doing we shall please Him. And this we must do more earnestly than worldly men, for they look carefully after their property out of self-love, and we must work for the love of God. Now self-love is a restless, anxious, over-eager love, and so the work done on its behalf is troubled, vexatious, and unsatisfactory;—whereas the love of God is calm, peaceful, and tranquil, and so the work done for its sake, even in worldly things, is gentle, trustful, and quiet. Let us take such 190a quiet care to preserve, and even when practicable to increase, our temporal goods, according to the duties of our position,—this is acceptable to God for His Love’s Sake.

But beware that you be not deceived by self-love, for sometimes it counterfeits the Love of God so cleverly that you may mistake one for the other. To avoid this, and to prevent a due care for your temporal interests from degenerating into avarice, it is needful often to practise a real poverty amid the riches with which God has endowed you.

To this end always dispose of a part of your means by giving them heartily to the poor; you impoverish yourself by whatever you give away. It is true that God will restore it to you, not only in the next world, but in this, for nothing brings so much temporal prosperity as free almsgiving, but meanwhile, you are sensibly poorer for what you give. Truly that is a holy and rich poverty which results from almsgiving.

Love the poor and poverty,—this love will make you truly poor, since, as Holy Scripture says, we become like to that we love. ¹⁰⁰¹⁰⁰ “Their abominations were according as they loved.” Hosea ix. 10. Love makes lovers equal. “Who is weak and I am not weak?” ¹⁰¹¹⁰¹ 2 Cor. xi. 29. says St. Paul? He might have said, Who is poor and I am not poor? for it was 191love which made him like to those he loved; and so, if you love the poor, you will indeed share their poverty, and be poor like them.

And if you love the poor, seek them out, take pleasure in bringing them to your home, and in going to theirs, talk freely with them, and be ready to meet them, whether in Church or elsewhere. Let your tongue be poor with them in converse, but let your hands be rich to distribute out of your abundance. Are you prepared to go yet further, my child? not to stop at being poor like the poor, but even poorer still? The servant is not so great as his lord; do you be the servant of the poor, tend their sickbed with your own hands, be their cook, their needlewoman. O my daughter, such servitude is more glorious than royalty! How touchingly S. Louis, one of the greatest of kings, fulfilled this duty; serving the poor in their own houses, and daily causing three to eat at his own table, often himself eating the remains of their food in his loving humility. In his frequent visits to the hospitals he would select those afflicted with the most loathsome diseases, ulcers, cancer, and the like; and these he would tend, kneeling down and bare-headed, beholding the Saviour of the world in them, and cherishing them with all the tenderness of a mother’s love. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary 192used to mix freely with the poor, and liked to dress in their homely garments amid her gay ladies. Surely these royal personages were poor amid their riches and rich in poverty.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Day of Judgment the King of prince and peasant will say to them, “I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat, I was naked, and ye clothed Me; come, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” ¹⁰²¹⁰² S. Matt. xxv. 34-36.

Everybody finds themselves sometimes deficient in what they need, and put to inconvenience. A guest whom we would fain receive honorably arrives, and we cannot entertain him as we would; we want our costly apparel in one place, and it all happens to be somewhere else: all the wine in our cellar suddenly turns sour: we find ourselves accidentally in some country place where everything is wanting, room, bed, food, attendance: in short, the richest people may easily be without something they want, and that is practically to suffer poverty. Accept such occurrences cheerfully, rejoice in them, bear them willingly.

Again, if you are impoverished much or little by unforeseen events, such as storm, flood, fire, drought, theft, or lawsuit; then is the real time 193to practise poverty, accepting the loss quietly, and adapting yourself patiently to your altered circumstances. Esau and Jacob both came to their father with hairy hands, ¹⁰³¹⁰³ Gen. xxvii. but the hair on Jacob’s hands did not grow from his skin, and could be torn off without pain; while that on Esau’s hands being the natural growth of his skin, he would have cried out and resisted if any one had torn it off. So if our possessions are very close to our heart, and storm or thief tear them away, we shall break forth in impatient murmurs and lamentations. But if we only cleave to them with that solicitude which God wills us to have, and not with our whole heart, we shall see them rent away without losing our sense of calmness. This is just the difference between the clothing of men and beasts; the beast’s clothing grows on its flesh, and man’s is only laid on so that it may be laid aside at will.

On Poverty of Spirit amid Riches

Taken from chapter 14 of Introduction to Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.

“BLESSED are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God;” ⁹⁷⁹⁷ S. Matt. v. 3. and if so, woe be to the rich in spirit, for theirs must be the bitterness of hell. By rich in spirit I mean him whose riches engross his mind, or whose mind is buried in his riches. He is poor in spirit whose heart is not filled with the love of riches, whose mind is not set upon them. The halcyon builds its nest like a ball, and leaving but one little aperture in the upper part, launches it on the sea, so secure and impenetrable, that the waves carry it along without any water getting in, and it floats on the sea, superior, so to say, to the waves. And this, my child, is what your heart should be—open only to heaven, impenetrable to riches and earthly treasures. If you have them, keep your heart from attaching itself to them; let it maintain a higher level, and amidst riches be as though you had none,—superior to them. Do not let that mind which is the likeness of God cleave to mere earthly goods; let it always be raised above them, not sunk in them.

There is a wide difference between having poison and being poisoned. All apothecaries 186have poisons ready for special uses, but they are not consequently poisoned, because the poison is only in their shop, not in themselves; and so you may possess riches without being poisoned by them, so long as they are in your house or purse only, and not in your heart. It is the Christian’s privilege to be rich in material things, and poor in attachment to them, thereby having the use of riches in this world and the merit of poverty in the next.

Of a truth, my daughter, no one will ever own themselves to be avaricious;—every one denies this contemptible vice:—men excuse themselves on the plea of providing for their children, or plead the duty of prudent forethought:—they never have too much, there is always some good reason for accumulating more; and even the most avaricious of men not only do not own to being such, but sincerely believe that they are not; and that because avarice is as a strong fever which is all the less felt as it rages most fiercely. Moses saw that sacred fire which burnt the bush without consuming it, ⁹⁸⁹⁸ Exod. iii. 2. but the profane fire of avarice acts precisely the other way,—it consumes the miser, but without burning, for, amid its most intense heat, he believes himself to be deliciously cool, and imagines his insatiable thirst to be merely natural and right.187

If you long earnestly, anxiously, and persistently after what you do not possess, it is all very well to say that you do not wish to get it unfairly, but you are all the time guilty of avarice. He who longs eagerly and anxiously to drink, though it may be water only, thereby indicates that he is feverish. I hardly think we can say that it is lawful to wish lawfully to possess that which is another’s:—so doing we surely wish our own gain at the expense of that other? and he who possesses anything lawfully, surely has more right to possess it, than we to obtain it? Why should we desire that which is his? Even were the wish lawful, it is not charitable, for we should not like other men to desire what we possess, however lawfully. This was Ahab’s sin when he sought to acquire Naboth’s vineyard by lawful purchase, when Naboth lawfully desired to keep it himself;—he coveted it eagerly, continually, and anxiously, and so doing he displeased God. ⁹⁹⁹⁹ I Kings xxi.

Do not allow yourself to wish for that which is your neighbour’s until he wishes to part with it,—then his wish will altogether justify yours,—and I am quite willing that you should add to your means and possessions, provided it be not merely with strict justice, but kindly and charitably done. 188If you cleave closely to your possessions, and are cumbered with them, setting your heart and thoughts upon them, and restlessly anxious lest you should suffer loss, then, believe me, you are still somewhat feverish;—for fever patients drink the water we give them with an eagerness and satisfaction not common to those who are well.

It is not possible to take great pleasure in anything without becoming attached to it. If you lose property, and find yourself grievously afflicted at the loss, you may be sure that you were warmly attached to it;—there is no surer proof of affection for the thing lost than our sorrow at its loss.

Therefore, do not fix your longings on anything which you do not possess; do not let your heart rest in that which you have; do not grieve overmuch at the losses which may happen to you;—and then you may reasonably believe that although rich in fact, you are not so in affection, but that you are poor in spirit, and therefore blessed, for the Kingdom of Heaven is yours.

Study: on why more money does not mean more happiness

hehehe,

yup, I like this controversial issue because I believe many of us are brought up with the wrong propaganda that being rich will make us happy. The sad thing is that some preachers began to talk like this also even in catholic circles We need to tell the truth, because the truth will set us free

Anyway, a friend of mine shared this article from some scientific study on why money and wealth does not make someone happy. It’s a psychology study, btw.  Interestingly our faith does not contradict science just as our late pope wrote in Fides et Ratio.

When you read the article, find clues at what actually makes people happy. You will be surprised that you might already have all those.

Read on:

Money is surprisingly bad at making us happy. Once we escape the trap of poverty, levels of wealth have an extremely modest impact on levels of happiness, especially in developed countries. Even worse, it appears that the richest nation in history – 21st century America – is slowly getting less pleased with life. (Or as the economists behind this recent analysis concluded: “In the United States, the [psychological] well-being of successive birth-cohorts has gradually fallen through time.”)

Needless to say, this data contradicts one of the central assumptions of modern society, which is that more money equals more pleasure. That’s why we work hard, fret about the stock market and save up for that expensive dinner/watch/phone/car/condo. We’ve been led to believe that dollars are delight in a fungible form.

…

full article at: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/happiness-and-money-2/

The politics of Happiness

There is an interesting news from Nature journal on a book written by a law professor Derek Bok, a former Harvard president.  The title of the book is “The Politics of Happiness”.

These are some excerpts from the Nature news:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/4641268a

In The Politics of Happiness, law professor Derek Bok, a former Harvard president, argues that it is time to rethink the goal of politics: to promote well-being rather than wealth. His appeal that this is both necessary and timely rests on two key points: first, that there is an increasingly solid body of evidence about the causes of happiness and its individual, social and environmental benefits; and second, that most people are unaware of and need education about what will give them lasting satisfaction.

Happiness is a legitimate goal for government policy, Bok argues, because it is more than a private, transient feeling. Lasting happiness — well-being or ‘flourishing’ — depends on the ongoing process of how we live our lives. Well-being encompasses close relationships, utilizing our strengths, helping others, having a sense of purpose and believing that what we do makes a difference. Hence the pursuit of lasting happiness can lead to the development of more productive, cohesive, caring and sustainable societies.

Bok’s second contention is based on studies revealing that people do not understand what will make them happy, and thus fail to act accordingly. The solution, he asserts, requires a political response through mass education. Wealth, possessions, appearance or fame do not bring lasting happiness, despite the messages promulgated by advertisers and the media. Bok proposes transformative education such as coaching parents, instructing teachers and providing school children with the know-ledge of how to lead satisfying lives. Quality programmes that improve social and emotional skills in school children, or broader projects such as the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York — which supports families through parenting workshops, pre- and after-school programmes and child-oriented health schemes — have demonstrably improved personal development, relationships and academic achievement. Happiness is a skill that can be learned.

We may have been wrong to believe that economic prosperity would bring happiness, but the evidence suggests that happiness and social well-being are likely to bring economic prosperity. Moreover, where prosperity arises from post-materialist values, it has the potential to enhance well-being without costing the earth.

What About Bailout Money for Poor?

A nice exhortation by the Vatican to UN:

full article: http://www.zenit.org/article-28753?l=english

He concluded, “We should not forget that the same world that could find, within a few weeks, trillions of dollars to rescue banks and financial investment institutions, has not yet managed to find 1% of that amount for the needs of the hungry — starting with the $3 billion needed to provide meals to school children who are hungry or the $5 billion needed to support the emergency food fund of the World Food Program.”

A millionare chose to be set free from luxury

this is an interesting news I read just now. A millionare sold everything, donate them for charity, and chose to live a simple life because he felt his money enslave him. He is now living in a small hut.

“For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness,” he said. “I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years,” said Mr Rabeder.

But over time, he had another, conflicting feeling.

“More and more I heard the words: ‘Stop what you are doing now – all this luxury and consumerism – and start your real life’,” he said. “I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need.

Read on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/7190750/Millionaire-gives-away-fortune-which-made-him-miserable.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_488889.html

Vatican economist suggest austerity

It is interesting to read the following article:
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=100340

the economist analyze and said that the real problem in todays economic crisis is not the bankers, they only aggravate what already there. The real problem is 0% birth rate. Why is that so? you may want to read the article to find out.

And economist also mentioned an interesting statement. “the only way to rebuild economic-financial balance is austerity”.

The Eye of a needle: Can the rich enter the kingdom of God?

I love provocative questions. Can the rich enter the kingdom of God? The question pop up as I came across the scripture text Mark 10:17-30. It is a story of young rich man who came to Jesus and asked him, what must he do to inherit eternal life. We all know the story, Jesus told him the commandments and the young man replied that he has done all these since his youth. And then Jesus told him,

“There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

We all are familiar with the response of the rich young man. He was sad and went away. And as if it is not enough, Jesus went on saying to the disciples,

“How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”

If you were like me, you might wonder what it means. And it seems that this was what happened with the disciples, it was written there that

“The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, ‘ my children,’ he said to them, ‘how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ (Jerusalem Bible translation)

Jesus words does not seem to calm the storm, but as if he fueled the fire with more oil, and I am not surprised to hear the response of the disciples,

“In that case, who can be saved?”

These words really made me wonder. Can the rich then enter the kingdom of God? It seems impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. How can this be? It is difficult teaching indeed.

I became aware of these verses few years back. It is not that before then I never knew about it. It is just I believe my life changes. I started to work, I began to plan for marriage, and I began to realize living indeed requires money to some extent. And maybe this causes the topic about money and wealth become more loud in my ears. So is it difficult to enter the kingdom of God if I were rich? This question started my journey to seek more of His Word and His truth.

One of the most intriguing words are the analogy of the eye of a needle. In my journey to understand these words, I have come across different interpretation, different school of thoughts as one might say it. Both seems to be from the biblical scholars. And yet, since I am no biblical scholar, I will not claim which of these are more correct. I guess the Catholic Church allows different interpretations as long as they do not contradict the teaching of the Church. At the end of the day, the Magisterium will have the last word for interpreting the scripture. In this article, I will simply share how I came to understand the meaning of this scripture text, especially on what the eye of a needle is all about.

Now, let me share a little bit of two school of thoughts that I am aware with. The first school of thought would simply say it is just impossible to enter the kingdom of God. It is hard as Jesus said, there is no ambiguity in these words. Hard to believe, and yet this is what is meant by Jesus. Full stop. The other school of thought gave an interesting, plausible alternative interpretation. Some scholars believe that there is this narrow gate in Jerusalem called the eye of a needle. And as camels were used for transportation and carrying loads, they might pass through this narrow gate called the eye of a needle. And yet it would be impossible for them to pass through unless they unload everything they carry. In this light, the text is telling us to unload all of our attachments so that we may enter the kingdom of God. In the next, few paragraphs, however, I will share my difficulties in accepting this second interpretation. Beautiful as it is, and yet, I found it more beautiful and astounding when we take Jesus word as it is, that it is simply impossible.

My first difficulty lies in the text of the Gospel itself. Which part you might ask? It is in the response of the disciples after Jesus said it. After Jesus said that “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”, the disciples were astounded by these words. And as if it is not enough, the Jerusalem Bible translates what Jesus did afterwards as “…but Jesus insisted”. In Revised Standard Version it is simply said, “But Jesus said to them again”, while in New American Bible says, “So Jesus again said to them in reply”. And what did Jesus say to emphasize his previous words?

“How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

And these how the disciples reacted,

“They were more astonished than ever. “ (Jerusalem Bible)

“And they were exceedingly astonished,…” (Revised Standard Version)

“They were exceedingly astonished …” (New American Bible)

I found it difficult to understand the reaction of the disciples if what Jesus referring to the eye of a needle was simply a narrow gate in Jerusalem. It just does not make sense. And Jesus would not need to repeat and emphasize the same words again. He can simply explain it what he meant, in fact this is what he did when the disciples misunderstood him when he talked about Lazarus,

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.” The disciples said to him, ‘”Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead;” (John 11:11-14)

So it is with the text of the rich young man. It does not make sense then when Jesus repeat to clarify what he said, he even said it with stronger words, that is with the analogy of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. And to be frank, when I heard the interpretation that the eye of a needle is just a narrow gate, my response was “Oh, that is what it meant”, no astonishment at all. But this was not the response of the disciples. Their response was exceedingly astonished.

After sometime, I found another interesting reference to the eye of a needle. And this one is from the Harper’s Bible Dictionary. If you flip to find the word “Needle’s eye”, you will read this:

a hyperbolic reference(Mark 10:25 and parallels) in a saying of Jesus on the difficulty of a rich man entering the Kingdom of God. There is no evidence for the view that it referred to a narrow gate in the walls of Jerusalem.

Wow! That’s like hitting me very hard. There is no evidence for the view that it actually just a narrow gate? In my mind, first it implies that the scholars writing or editing this Bible Dictionary are aware of the view that the eye of the needle might refer to a narrow gate. But it seems for them, there is no archaeological or historical evidence to support this view.

Let’s take a breath for a while. I recall that few years back I started to love the Bible, not just for reading and meditating it, but also studying it. I started to look for Catholic Bible studies. One bible study that I bought was on the Gospel of Mark published by Ignatius Press, titled Ignatius Bible Study (what else can you guess?). The Bible Study was written by Dr. Scott Hahn, a professor of theology from the Fransiscan University of Steubenville. Interestingly, there is a reference for this camel issues that we are dealing with. This is what it says

10:25 easier for a camel: A parable that depicts wealth as a formidable obstacle to entering God’s kingdom (1 Tim6:9-10; Heb 13:5). This difficulty is sorely demonstrated by the young man’s refusal to part with his riches and embrace the gospel (10:22) See note on Mt. 19:24

But what caught my eyes was actually the notes after that. It speaks about the “impossible” and what it means.

10:27 it is impossible: We are completely incapable of reaching salvation on our own. The human family descended from Adam suffers from a wounded nature and is unable to obey God completely or consistently without divine assistance (Rom 7:21-25). Only by cooperating with God and his grace can we fulfill the righteous requirement of his Law (Rom 8:4). By ourselves we can do nothing (Jn 15:5), but with the Lord’s help all things are possible (Jer 32:17; Lk 1:37; CCC 2082)

This note really helped me to see something that I never saw before. And it a kind of solving my problem for the eye of a needle. Like many people, I was stuck on the “rich”. I was wondering whether the rich can enter the kingdom of God or not and this thing occupies my mind. But that made me unable to see what Jesus actually meant.

When Jesus said it is impossible, he said it in answer to the disciples questions,

“In that case, who can be saved?”

If you notice the answer that it is impossible is not just for the rich, but for all men. The disciples were wondering if the rich found it very hard to enter the kingdom of heaven just like a camel has to pass through the eye of a needle, how about the rest? Who can be saved? In the Old Testament, the idea of earthly wealth as one of the blessings for the righteous are not uncommon. The Book of Job, of course, started to question this. Job, being a righteous man, also suffered. But the idea seems to be common for the people in that age. And now Jesus is telling what seems to be shocking to them. That the rich young man who has done all those commandment from his youth found it difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven? If those who tried to live righteously, and from it flows God’s blessing of earthly wealth, found it hard to enter the kingdom of God, how can the rest be saved? The disciples simply could not understand.

But note how Jesus answer this,

“For men it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.”

The issues actually is not about whether the person is rich or not. The issue is simply that it is impossible for ALL to enter the kingdom of God. We cannot gain eternal life! None of us can.

If you read again the question that the rich young man ask Jesus, everything would become clear.

“ Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The rich young man thought that he can gain eternal life by what he does. He thought that it is his effort that will save him. And yet, at the end of the conversation, he looked down to the earth and sad, he realized that he is simply unable to inherit the eternal life.

The phrase of the eye of a needle to me is not just a narrow gate. It is simply impossible. I cannot be holy on my own. I cannot reach God with my own strength. Everything is a gift, and even my faith is a gift. God’s grace saves me. I am drawn by God. God is the main subject. And that is why Jesus changed the subject from man who is simply impossible to God who is all possible.

Aren’t we also sometimes try to inherit eternal life by what we do? We thought that by going to church every Sunday, by serving in ministry, by doing this and that, we will gain heaven. We forgot that to look to the one who calls us first, who pours out his graces upon us abundantly. We forgot why we want to go to heaven. We tend to think of gaining heaven for ourself. We forgot that to enter the kingdom of God is to meet the King. We want the prize, but we forgot the prize giver. We want our heaven for our sake, and yet we forgot God.

I recall one day I asked my self what is eternal life. Have you ever asked the same question? Dr. Scott Hahn gave a beautiful answer. He said that the only thing that is eternal is God, and Eternal Life is simply God’s Life. So What is God’s life? Looking at the Trinity, we realize that God’s life is a life shared for the Other. Jesus lives for the Father, and the Father loves Jesus abundantly. And that bond of love is the new Life that we all receive in the Holy Spirit. This sharing of love is what Eternal Life is all about. It is for this reason why Jesus asked the rich young man to “go, sell what you have, and give to the poor”. To enter into this Life of sharing love, one is called to share and imitate the Holy Trinity. This is what made it difficult for the rich young man to enter the kingdom of God. He find it difficult to share.

Obeying the commandment is not about getting to heaven. Obeying the commandment is about sharing Life with God and with others. Just as Jesus obeyed His Father giving himself for us even to the Cross, so too we are called share our life for others out of Love for God. And the more you try it, I can assure you, that more you will realize how impossible it is. And this is exactly the Good News that we all need to hear: that for God, nothing is impossible. His love saves us. His love will enable us to enter the Kingdom of God. His love is stronger than death and who can separate us from the Love of Christ? Love conquers all. It is only when we open to God’s love, we can truly love others. Practically, how does this happen? How does God help us and save us to enter Heaven? This would require another article, I believe. Yet at this moment, it is suffices to say that in the Church and through the sacraments that God truly saves us. This is what Jesus left us with on earth. The Hebrew name of Jesus means “God saves”. The question is do you believe in Him? Do you have faith?

This is what came to my mind after I hear the Gospel reading. I decided to share it with you all simply because I have received the Good News. And it is just difficult not to share the Good News of God’s love that sets us free and rejoice. Yes we all can enter the kingdom of heaven, not because it is possible for us, but simply because for God nothing is impossible. Let us rejoice and be glad!

“ Fill us with your love that we may rejoice” (Psalm 89 v 14)

The Solution to Poverty is Poverty

The Pope says that the solution to overcome the poverty that God does not want is Evangelical Poverty! The solution is not getting more wealth but sobriety and solidarity, the fruits of evangelical poverty.

read the complete article at: http://www.zenit.org/article-24692?l=english