“How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!” Three days after his election in March 2013, Pope Francis used those words to explain his choice of name to journalists. The line went around the world, yet it still has no keyboard equivalent. For money, the selection is generous: 💰, 🤑, 💸. For poverty as the Gospel means it, there is no poverty emoji at all, just a rather lonely 🤲.
The first Beatitude does not say “blessed are the broke”. It says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It is about availability: not clinging to what we own, keeping our hands free enough to receive and to give. Franciscan tradition tells how Francis of Assisi took Lady Poverty as his bride. Destitution, on the other hand, is no virtue, and since 2017 the Church has said so every November with the World Day of the Poor.
How do you draw a wealth that cannot be counted? Two open hands, a Franciscan sandal worn thin, a loaf broken in two, an empty purse with a heart slipping out: give it a try. Submitting is free, which seems only fitting on this page.
Amen !by AI Generator
Amen !by AI Generator
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