POVERTY OF SOUL

The trouble with poverty is that it is human, not Godly. Spiritual poverty is not human poverty.
The spiritual poverty I am talking about is not an economic state and status. It is not a question of money but a question of heart. The fact of not having money is not a virtue. One can be without a penny and have the soul of a rich man. One can also (but it is rare) be a person of wealth and have the soul of a poor man. To desire, or to believe, in economic poverty as a ‘distinction’ for greater spiritual enlightenment is unwise and only reveals the total misunderstanding of spiritual development.

Spiritual poverty is a frame of mind to which we are all invited to participate. It is a certain recognition of our own human limits, helping us open up to God, and losing our ambition to be self-sufficient. It turns us from our abilities and ourselves and turns us toward Jesus in trust and expectation.

True poverty is poverty of the soul and its lack of faith, hope and love. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he is stating that we are in the blessed reality of knowing our condition. And we are blessed further as we stay in hunger and thirst for this reality.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus