These Books

I have a problem with buying books and with holding on to them rather than sharing the goodness in them with others. I imagine our Lord saying to me: 'These books you cling to are nothing. Emptiness. The emptiness I want for you is everything.  Fullness. Poverty is My gift for you and My Church.'

How disappointed He is to see her members reject it.

'I've spoken so clearly yet I am ignored. By those in positions of power and also by the sheep. Poverty is not an option, it is necessary. My disciples and Apostles set the example and it is ignored by high and low alike.'

Bring us back to Poverty Lord.

"...But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions..."-St. Augustine

Poverty allows us to praise Him through our lives and actions. Embracing it willingly says to the world, I trust in Jesus to provide for me and through me for others.

The call from my Lord was to quit my job as a manager at the salon where I work. To become useless in the eyes of the world.  Embracing this call is embracing poverty.

Psalm 54 ".. You have rescued me..."

Poverty rescues me. Taking the step of making less money and having less power and control is a lifeline that pulls me out of the sea of materialism and self-reliance.

Psalm 151 "...when You give me a docile heart..."

Voluntary poverty is docility.

From The Fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “...He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich He has sent away empty...”

This passage has spoken to me for many years since I started praying the Liturgy of the Hours and encountering it each evening. Its meaning was unclear at first, but our Lord was definitely speaking to me through it. Its meaning in my life has become clearer recently.

It says He fills the hungry, not that He gives them food. He doesn’t necessarily take their hunger away, but He gives them good things. Their hunger allows Him to fill them. So with poverty. Our poverty allows Jesus to fill us with His goodness because we accept it and try to embrace emptiness. The emptiness of being hungry. The emptiness of poverty. I have to be empty if I want to be filled with Him and His things and if I do I have to follow His way and His guidance.

Human-Written, AI Spell-Checked 5/8/21 AD

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