Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

mother of the Son of the Most High Father and the glorious Virgin. 1 For, I am sure that you know that the kingdom of heaven is promised and given by the Lord only to the poor, because as long as something temporal is the object of love, the fruit of charity is lost. You know, too, that a person cannot serve God and material wealth, since either the one is loved and the other hated, or the person will serve one and despise the other. You also know that a person wearing clothing cannot fight with another who is naked, because the one who has something that might be grasped is more quickly thrown to the ground. You also know that it is not possible for a person to remain glorious in the world and to reign with Christ in heaven; and that a camel will be able to pass through the eye of a needle before a rich person ascends into the kingdom of heaven. These are the reasons why you disposed of your clothing, I mean your worldly wealth, so that you might have the strength not to succumb completely to the one struggling against you, and might enter the kingdom of heaven by the narrow road and constricted gate. It is indeed a great and praiseworthy exchange To give up the temporal for the eternal, To merit the heavenly rather than the earthly, To receive a hundredfold instead of one, To have a happy, everlasting life.

1 Virgin – a reference to Mary, whom Roman Catholics hold in high regard as the mother of Jesus.