Finding security beyond wealth and poverty

By Marion Nguyen, OSB*

“Blessed are you who are poor; woe to you who are rich.” Jesus’ words do not correspond to our natural inclination. Who among us would consider ourselves blessed when we struggle to make rent or pay our groceries to feed our children? When was the last time we received a large financial gift and immediately feel uneasy? For most, poverty is a curse and wealth is a blessing; simultaneously, most are unaware that their perception is diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus. How do we reconcile this discrepancy?

Sometimes, without knowing, we treat God as a means to an end. We focus too much on his teaching in which he encourages us to ask and knock because the door will be opened and requests will be answered. It is true that Jesus encourages us to communicate our petitions to the Father. However, issues arise when we remain in this stage of development and never move from “milk” to “solid food” (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-3). If our friendship is maintained only because the other is of benefit to us, how long would such a friendship last? Saint Paul describes the danger of this disposition, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all” (1Cor. 15:19). Saint Bernard of Clairvaux designates this attitude as the second stage in his treatise “On Loving God”: loving God for my own sake. For Bernard, it’s natural to pass through this stage, but becomes destructive if we get stuck because it keeps us isolated inside our needs and perceptions.

What then is the disposition that makes sense of Jesus’ teaching? Jeremiah responds, “the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord” and affirmed by the Psalmist, “whose delight is the law of the Lord and ponders his law day and night” (Jer 17:7; Ps 1:2). This person interprets all events in life as evidence that he or she is deeply loved by God. When given wealth, one understands that it is an added responsibility recalling the Lord’s words, “much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” (Lk 12:48). When experiencing poverty, interprets that it is an opportunity to grow in faith and trust. It is in such moments of need that the yearning for God is heightened and comes closer to the words of the psalmist, “Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God” (Ps 42:2). The person who cultivates such a disposition, moves her locus of peace from things outside of her control and brings it closer to the heart where she has the option to choose. Such a person builds the house on rock, not sand. Yes, such a faith does not prevent storms, but it guarantees that we will not be destroyed, “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (Jn 16:33).

*Abbot of St Martin Abbey
Lacey, Washington, USA