532. What does Jesus call for in poverty of spirit?
(Comp 532) Jesus
calls his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone. Detachment from
riches – in the spirit of evangelical poverty – and self-abandonment to divine
providence free us from anxiety about the future and prepare us for the
blessedness of the “poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Mt 5:3).
“In brief”
(CCC 2556) Detachment from
riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the
poor in spirit."
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2544) Jesus enjoins
his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them
"renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospel
(Lk 14:33; cf. Mk 8:35). Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of
the poor widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to
live on (Cf. Lk 21:4). The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for
entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. (CCC 2545)
All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they
be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things
and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical
poverty" (LG 42 § 3).
Reflection
(CCC 2546) "Blessed
are the poor in spirit" (Mt 5:3). The Beatitudes reveal an order of
happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor,
to whom the Kingdom already belongs (Cf. Lk 6:20): The Word speaks of voluntary
humility as "poverty in spirit"; the Apostle gives an example of
God's poverty when he says: "For your sakes he became poor" (St.
Gregory of Nyssa, De beatitudinibus
1: PG 44, 1200D; cf. 2 Cor 8:9). (CCC 2547)
The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the
abundance of goods (Lk 6:24). "Let the proud seek and love earthly
kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of
heaven" (St. Augustine, De serm.
Dom. in monte 1, 1, 3: PL 34, 1232). Abandonment to the providence of the
Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow (Cf. Mt 6:25-34). Trust
in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God.
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