Poverty

""Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?" (1)

"What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! …We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things." (2)


The Empty Plate

She thanks Him for the empty plate,
Though there is nothing to consume;
Without an appetite to sate,
Her heart is clean and full of room.

Her knife is dull and fork is bent;
She is too weak even to eat.
The poor soul's food is heaven-sent --
In her weakness, His strength's replete.

Her empty cup will overflow,
And spill over onto the floor;
The poorest of poor hearts will know
Divine love cannot stop its pour.

How blessed are the poor in heart!
The kingdom's King is at their call:
The poor, weak ones are set apart --
In their great need, He provides all.

At His banquet, the hungry feast;
The Lord Himself will fill the least!.


May the Heavenly Banquet Himself empty our hearts in poverty so that He may fill our hungry souls with His love.

(c) Paul Buis, 2003