Christian poverty, generosity, self-giving

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          THAT gospel story of the poor widow giving her two small

coins into the temple treasury (cfr. Lk 21,1-4) once again reminds us

about how true Christian poverty leads to generosity and total

self-giving which is the very essence of love that in turn is the very

essence of God, as St. John says it so explicitly, “Deus caritas est.”

(1 Jn 4,16)

          One lesson we can learn from that episode is that generosity

is not a matter of how much we give but rather of total detachment

from the things of this world so that our heart can only be for God.

We therefore have to be wary of our strong, if often subtle,

attachment to the things of this world such that our heart would at

best be a divided heart, which is actually an impossibility.

          We have to learn to let go of our possessions, our

preferences, our opinions, etc., until we can say that we are letting

go of our whole selves so as to give everything to God.

          This is what generosity is all about. Instead of feeling

emptied, we feel filled with peace and joy. No earthly happening can

add or diminish that peace and joy. It’s a peace and joy that can only

be the effect of having God with us. As St. Teresa once said, “Solo

Dios basta,” with God we have enough.

          Christian poverty is never a state of misery and pure

suffering and privation, even if in human eyes it can be seen that

way. It is always motivated by love of God and neighbor, and is filled

with all goodness, generosity and magnanimity.

          It is a spirit of total self-giving that goes beyond any

effort at quantification and measure. It’s never a matter of how much

we give and keep. It’s purely a matter of total self-giving that

identifies us with God of whom we are supposed to be his image and

likeness.

          We have to learn to develop and live this true spirit of

Christian poverty which first of all would need God’s grace which we

have to constantly beg and, of course, to exert our all-out effort. We

have to learn to continually conquer our tendency to be improperly

attached to earthly things, even as we know that the things of this

world are also important, but only as means, never as ends in

themselves.

          Yes, we have to continually rectify our intentions and give

ourselves concrete standards, criteria and goals to guide us in the

way we use the things of this world while living true Christian

poverty.

          We have to learn how to live Christian poverty while using

the things of this world. While it’s true that Christ told the rich

young man, and us, to “sell everything and give to the poor…and come,

follow me,” (Mk 10,21), we need to understand that the Christian

spirit of poverty and detachment does not prevent us from having the

things of this world, like money.

          But, yes, we need to be careful that our having the things

of this world does not undermine our love for God. If ever, the things

of this world should be pursued and used for the sole purpose of

loving God and everybody else. We are not angels. We are not pure

spirits. We need things to live and survive, and to give glory to God

and to help everybody else.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Christian poverty and the things of this world

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WHILE it’s true that Christ told the rich young man, and us,

to “sell everything and give to the poor…and come, follow me,” (Mk

10,21), we need to understand that the Christian spirit of poverty and

detachment does not prevent us from having the things of this world,

like money.

          But, yes, we need to be careful that our having the things

of this world does not undermine our love for God. If ever, the things

of this world should be pursued and used for the sole purpose of

loving God and everybody else. We are not angels. We are not pure

spirits. We need things to live and survive, and to give glory to God

and to help everybody else.

          Many times, we are given the impression that money and the

Christian spirit of poverty are incompatible. To a certain extent,

there is some truth to that view.

          Even St. Paul went to the extent of saying that, “the love

of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they

have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many

sorrows.” (1 Tim 6,10) We do not have to look far to verify the

undeniable truth of these words.

          But we need to remind ourselves also that money in itself is

not an inherent evil. It is when we fall into an improper attachment

to it that it becomes an evil or, better said, a tool for evil. But in

itself, if handled properly, it can in fact be a tool for doing a lot

of good and of glorifying God.

          We just have to make sure that our attitude toward money is

inspired by our love for God and for others, and the way we deal with

it faithfully reflects the will of God which definitely is for our own

salvation and the salvation of everyone.

          Only then can we apply the use of money in accordance to

Christ’s words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be

also.” (Mt 6,21) Only then can we say that money will show how much we

love God, rather than how depraved we have fallen.

          But, yes, we always need to check ourselves to see if we are

truly detached from the things of this world so as to give our whole

selves to God and to others. In this, we cannot afford to be casual.

The worldly things are now so attractive, so tempting and so riveting

that if we are not careful, there’s no way but be swept away by its

rampaging worldly laws and impulses.

          In fact, at one time, Christ compares the great difficulty

involved in resisting the allure of worldly things in a very graphic

way: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Mk 10,25)

          Christian poverty has the primary purpose of emptying our

mind and heart of anything that can compete or, worse, replace the

love for God and for others which is proper to all of us.

          It’s not about running away from worldly things, much less,

of hating the goods of the earth and our temporal affairs, but of

knowing how to handle them, so as not to compromise the fundamental

law of love that should rule us. And that is for us to be God’s image

and likeness and as God’s children, as shown to us by Christ.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE),Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Poverty and Crime

My column in Mindanao Daily Mirror

Over and over again, it is seen that burglary, robbery and serious

assaults occur most frequently in the area where shanties are and the

family income is so low that it cannot suffice the needs of the

family. The houses are extremely overcrowded with few facilities.

Unemployment is very common. People in this area have little or no

formal education at all, and so mostly are unskilled.

Families are broken up. The mother has to go out to work and leaves

the children behind. With this kind of life, what will happen to the

future of this growing children, who are mostly out of school? It is

not surprising that they are often the victims of circumstances. They

begin to commit relatively minor offenses such as small scale thefts

and illegal gambling. Later on, because of poverty and deprivation,

they learn to commit violent crimes.

Look around in your surroundings ...

Crime is a complex problem. It can be classified in various ways.

There are crimes against people like rape, kidnapping, murder and

assault; also crimes against property include theft, arson, forgery,

embezzlement and vandalism; and the crimes against public order or

morality include drunkenenness, gambling and prostitution.

Crime has been a rather serious problem the fact that violent crimes

have become much more common these years then in the past. Despite

repeated crackdown by law-enforcement authorities, the situation many

times has not shown any improvement at all. What is even worse is that

studies have found out that the crime rate tends to rise faster when

quick changes occur in the society.

Also, crime is related to social values.

People were more obsessed with

the status, wealth and pleasure. This change in value must have been

an important factor in the mounting wave of crime. It is necessary to

emphasize especially in education the moral values and the traditional

virtues of being a good citizen. And most of all, if the unployment

problem of a country can be solved or minimize in future, we all might

hope that the crime rate will go down.