Ruth's Book I

Franciscan Poverty

     How can we define Franciscan Poverty? We can, by picturing a stark, desolate moment in History. Close your eyes a minute and think of the summit of Calvary. See the poor Man Christ standing there literally stripped to the skin, the cross flat on the ground beside Him waiting for His almost nude body to be nailed to it.

    Next, think of St. Francis, “the little poor man.” To him Poverty was a strip act, too — a stripping off anything and everything that is worldly and not Christ-like.

     Now, let us think of ourselves, we who are striving for Franciscan perfection. For us, too, poverty can be and must be a strip act, a simple, steady endeavor to completely strip ourselves down to be Christ-like.

     To some degree, poverty must be practiced by every Christian. It is a self-cultivated virtue that frees us from a reaching out for and grasping after things of the world. If we practice poverty we will be left wide open to the inflowing way of Christ.

     What about money in our lives? Money is not evil in itself. The old saying, “Money is the root of all evil,” is a variation of the true quotation used once by St. Peter after Christ’s ascension into Heaven, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Money can buy good things and it can buy bad things; it can uplift and it can corrupt; it can buy things we need or things that are frivolous. It can buy a bowl of rice for a starving child or it can buy a useless trinket for a child.   

     Real poverty comes from the heart. That is where it takes seed and as it sprouts and begins to grow, it manifests itself in outward signs and deeds.

     The love of money is the root of Evil — with a capital E. It is rampant in the world and when it is coupled with a lust for power it becomes lethal. It becomes GREED, SELF-LOVE and SELF-GRATIFICATION. It becomes, a THING TO ADORE, an IDOL.

     Money, on the other hand, when not used as a god, but as a gift of God, takes its proper place in life. It becomes something necessary and even pleasantly and mildly desirable in our lives. It needs only to be disciplined by the virtue of poverty. Poverty frees us from inordinate human desires and makes room within us for God’s love to enter in and help us put on the brakes, when we don’t discipline ourselves.

     How, in a practical way can we cultivate the spirit of Poverty?  Let’s take a good hard look at the things we buy?  How much of what we buy is sheer waste buying? Look in any store you go into, many counters display goods that are needed and useful; but, look at the counter upon counter of the absolute junk with a high price tag on it.

     How about the senseless waste of useful things only half used, things quickly tired of and discarded; things abused, carelessly broken, or allowed to rust and go bad unused? How about food — garbage cans that are partially filled with wasted, edible food?

     How about keeping up with the Joneses: How many plunges in over our foolish heads have been made with this one? Living beyond one’s means is living a lie. How about our priorities? Do we have the right to buy a Cadillac, for instance, while all we can afford to do is feed the kids beans, spaghetti, or rice? Let’s take a look at the other side of the coin; how about buying the kids everything and anything they want while denying the basic needs of some other member of the family or neighbors; these actions give the kids the idea that the world owes them a living and it doesn’t make any difference whether anyone else has anything or not.

     How about panic buying: Rumor has it there is going to be a shortage of beef, gasoline, or toilet paper; or that prices are going up on this or that. Buy! Stock up! Six months later the trash cans begin to collect the unneeded, unwanted, unusable, deteriorated excess; while somewhere, someone did go without because the panic buying did create a shortage.

     How about the energy crunch:  Are we doing our bit to save energy? How about electricity? Are we still wasting it right and left? Do we go about splashing lights all over the place, turning on six lights where one would do or leaving them turned on in every room in the house when we are using only one room, or failing to turn them off when we no longer need them?

     These are a few examples and the examples are a dime a dozen. We can look at our own situation and, ask ourselves questions and size up our own spirit of poverty. Just how far afield are we from the spirit of poverty in our daily buying and living habits?

     At this point, strangely enough, the subject of the fraternity common fund is brought up and we realize that everyone should give something regularly, even if he or she doesn’t attend a meeting. No set amount is ever assessed and it need not be a great deal. Each person gives what he feels is a right amount for him or her to give. It doesn’t make any difference what anyone else gives — everyone is responsible for himself or herself.

     The donations are secret. They are not recorded to divulge ones habits; the total amount is recorded at each monthly meeting. The common fund is used for Fraternity expenses — supplies; an occasional guest speaker; sometimes travel expenses to a convention; charity to needy members; regional fund, and apostolic projects. The contribution should not be taken from ordinary personal spending needs and habits. It should be a personal part of our own spirit of poverty and our affection for and concern for our fraternity and its members, and it should be given in a spirit of sacrifice and love for the Franciscan Order and for the Church, and so, for Christ Himself. Thus, it becomes Christ-centered.

    So much for the common fund which, as you see, is related to our spirit of poverty.

    Another concrete element of poverty is the most common one of all, the tragic polarization of the haves and the have-nots, the all too common, worldwide poverty of human deprivation.

   Consider the situation here in America, where, on the one hand we see so many of our tables laden with a super-abundance of good nourishing food, while on the other hand we see a tragic picture (perhaps it is just a picture in a mission magazine, which we know is the real McCoy) of great big eyes in a bony face of a child out there somewhere who is undernourished or even starving. And, here we have a closet crammed full of clothing, warm and cool clothing, some are sensible things and others are not so sensible; while out there somewhere there is a person so thinly clad he is shivering in the cold. How do we reconcile these contrasts with Christ’s own words, “Come ... for I was hungry and you gave me to eat ... naked and you clothed me ..."  Or, the converse of that — Christ’s warning words, “Depart from me … for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat ... Naked and you did not cloth me...”

     These are some of the really hard things we each should ponder sincerely and work out in our own way, in our own consciences, in order to reconcile what we have, with what we give to those who do not have.

     Now, we come to the deeply spiritual poverty that is the Poverty of Christ.

     St. Francis, said, “Poverty is a royal virtue, it is shone so brightly in the King and queen,” — Christ and Our Lady. He said, “Understand that Poverty is a choice way of salvation; the fruit it bears is manifold, and rare are they who know it well.” He said, “If Christ lived it, I must live it.” And, if Francis lived it, we must live it if our goal is Franciscan perfection; by doing so we can continue the poverty of Christ on earth today. For us, who are followers of St. Francis the poor man, Christ must never stop walking through the world.

     Jesus chose to be born poor, why?

     The Spirit of poverty is a mental condition, or should we say conditioning? It is another of our spiritual freedoms — freedom from greed, especially greed for money and power and position beyond our proper status. It is contentment with, and gratefulness to God for what we have; for “giving us this day our daily bread.”  The Holy Father says, “Holy Poverty flees from luxury.”

     What is this luxury? It is an unrestrained indulgence in costly living. It is the gratification of desire for the empty pomp of living. Poverty flees this emptiness and seeks the fullness that is in Christ. Poverty loves little things, and is happy with the ordinary things of life. It enjoys having a good home, a few beautiful things, music, flowers, time-saving appliances, all on the level of our means to pay for them. These are looked upon as joyous things lent to us by God for a happy existence, and never for the purpose of showing off, or, of going someone else a bit better. Our Franciscan rule states, “In all things let the members avoid extremes of cost and style, observing the golden mean suited to each one’s station in life.” Franciscan poverty, instead of enslaving us to things, makes things our slaves. We choose things and use them wisely; we do not let things use us. Our attitude should be, I can take them or leave them. Poverty is full trust in the Providence of God.

More on Franciscan Poverty

    We have Franciscan guidelines and we have Francis’ message — two key points, love God, and Gospel poverty — these permeated Francis’ entire life.

     We have poverty — simple living, humility, frugality, sharing and serving. Jesus said, “If you would be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor. Then come follow me.” Another time, He and some of the disciples were watching people place donations into the temple treasury. Some of the rich were giving lavishly. But along comes this scene:

The woman was elderly, and weary;

Her brown eves were blurry and teary.

Her figure was bent and forlorn;

Her dress was faded and torn.

Her skin was the color of straw;

Her hand reached out like a claw.

The fingers clutched something tight,

Then, into the treasury dropped the widow’s mite.

These pictures flashed through my head,

It was all that she had, Jesus said.

     What message do these pictures convey to us?

     Do we go rushing out, as Francis and his followers did, and sell all we have and give it to the poor? We do not. We use our common sense.

     If you have nothing, you can share nothing. You cannot even take care of yourselves and those dependent on you. You become a burden if you make yourself poor.

     The answer is: We need to be good stewards of what God has given us — using, sharing and serving others with care.