Brian Hamilton

Let the enemies of poverty blush

“We must remember that the enemies of poverty impugn, not only the teaching, but the life of Our Lord. Christ has taught us both by word and example to observe poverty in all things. St. Paul tells us ‘that being rich He became poor for our sakes’ (2 Cor 8:9). The Gloss, commenting on these words, says, that, ‘He took poverty upon Himself, although He did not lose His riches. Interiorly He was rich, exteriorly He was poor. He concealed the treasure of His Godhead, and revealed the poverty of His Manhood.’ Hence, those who follow Christ in poverty, acquire great dignity, as we shall presently show. ‘Therefore (the Gloss concludes), let no one despise Him, who, though poor in His dwelling, was rich in conscience. If we consider His life, from His first entry into the world, we shall see that He chose a poor maiden for His Mother, and willed to be needy and in want, and to have for His birthplace the poorest of poor cities. The stable is a monument of His poverty, as we are reminded in a certain address delivered at one of the synods of the Council of Ephesus.’ ‘Behold (we quote part of this address) the most humble dwelling of Him who enriches Heaven. A crib suffices to Him that sitteth above the Cherubim; and He who has joined the sea to the dry land is Himself swathed in swaddling bands. Mark His poverty here below; consider the abundance of His riches above.’ But if Christ, as St. Paul says, had not become poor for our sakes, not for His own, could He not have chosen a wealthy mother, and might He not have been born in His own house? If the abnegation of earthly possessions is of no account in Christian perfection, why should Our Lord have deprived Himself even of a home? Therefore, let the enemies of poverty blush and be silent, while the glory of this virtue radiates from the crib of Christ.”

—St Thomas Aquinas, Contra doctrinam retrahentium a religione, XV.

16 August 2007 |
tags: Christology, Money, Thomas Aquinas