Our first reaction must be: “I do not want my face to fall like the face of the rich, young man. I do not want to walk away from Jesus. I do not want to be sad (cf. Mark 10:21-22). Now, to say the same thing in a positive form we would say: “I want to enter the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, 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 one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:24-25)
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. (Luke 6:20)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
From these three statements it appears that poverty (at least poverty in spirit) is the key to entering it, while riches are the impediment keeping one from the Kingdom of God, from happiness, from Christ.
Lest we become exceedingly astonished like the first disciples, we need to understand clearly the Christian concept of riches and poverty. We take Jesus and St. Paul as models.
By trade, Jesus was first a craftsman who made a living with his hands in a wood shop, and subsequently, he became a traveling rabbi. In both conditions he was never destitute and in serious want. We can safely state that there were, at the time, lots of people who were much worse off. St. Paul, too, prided himself in making a living both as a tentmaker and as a missionary preacher.
The first quality of Christian poverty deducted from Jesus and St. Paul is that poverty must be free. Jesus chose freely to go hungry or to eat and drink to the point of being considered a glutton and a drunkard (cf. Mt. 11:19 and Lk. 7:34) He was free to sleep under trees or comfortably in homes of wealthy friends. He was free regarding family, relatives and friends. He was free regarding his own power, knowledge and fame.
Paul chose a similar type of freedom: I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things, I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. (Philippians 4:12) He was free regarding family, relatives and friends. He was so free as to consider himself a fool for Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 11:16).
This type of poverty, the key to entering the Kingdom, requires a very strong faith. It demands full, unshakeable trust in the love of God for us and a constant surrender of plans, of desires, and of the very core of our self to the will of the Father.
Obviously, were we to begin now this process of working with God’s grace towards access to the Kingdom and to assured, guaranteed happiness, we would have to ask God to grant us prudence and the spirit of wisdom above power and riches. We ought to ask him for prudence and wisdom even above health and beauty. Prudence and wisdom would assist us as we divide what is available to us in three categories: necessities, optional things, and extravagant things.
Now, before we take time out to list what is available to us and place each item in one of these three categories, we must determine who depends on us, those with whom we live, and reach an agreement as to the standard of living in the area of the country where we happen to live.
Prudence and wisdom would keep us from excesses and imprudent choices. It should be clear that we should do our very best to provide for ourselves and our family everything within the category of necessities. It should also be relatively clear that we owe it to our Christian calling and to Christian stewardship to avoid anything extravagant mindful that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom. I say “relatively clear” because, occasionally, we might need to do a few things bordering on extravagance in the context of our means: like going on an uplifting, (although not extravagant) vacation or splurging on nice things like flowers and other fine things to show someone how special they are to us.
Where we exercise our freedom in poverty is with the optional things in our life. The more we love Jesus, not in words but in deeds, the more we show interest in the plight of the needy among us and those in mission lands, and the more we will be able to give up, the more we will feel good inside for responding freely and generously to the love of Jesus for each one of us.
Whenever it gets hard for us to respond lovingly to the needs of Christ present in the needy whose wants are known to us, we should remember that Jesus is always looking at us with love: Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing.” (Mark 10:21)
Furthermore, a clear indication that we would have given up a lot for Christ and for his Kingdom would be in the hundredfold of blessings that he guarantees us in return, and the unequivocal experience of being persecuted (cf. Mk 10:30). We can expect persecution from those who cannot stand people who do good deeds because those clear examples of goodness are too much for the wicked to bear.
But Jesus’ and Paul’s level of poverty requires also a fierce fight against being rich of ourselves, of our ideas, our entrenched opinions, our tendencies, our efforts, and anything else that is contrary to the Gospel. This will be a very long battle which we must win solely with a sincere attitude of humility and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit.
