How to be truly poor to be truly rich

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S’ what Christ actually wants us to be. We have to be truly poor in order to be truly rich in what really matters in our life. This is the lesson that we can get from the gospel parable about the rich fool. (cfr. Lk 12,13-21)

When someone asked Christ to speak with his brother regarding the division of the family inheritance, Christ must have perceived a wrong motive on the part of the person who asked because he refused to get involved in the dispute, saying: “Man, who has appointed me judge, or divider, over you?”

Christ then proceeded to warn that person and the crowd around about the danger of covetousness, saying that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses.” And then he proceeded to talk about the parable of the rich fool who thought that life was about acquiring and keeping as many things as possible.

This parable teaches us about the danger of greed and storing up treasures for ourselves without being “rich toward God.” Greed and attachment to things of this world are what would keep us away from our true wealth which is none other than God. Here Christ is telling us about the importance of being mindful of our relationship with God rather than on relying on material wealth.

For this, Christ teaches us that we need to be truly poor—poor in spirit—and yet also to be truly rich. To be poor in spirit means having a humble and dependent attitude toward God who takes care of everything and, in fact, shares what he has with us.

We obviously have to take care of our material needs, but this should not get in the way in our relation with God and with others. To be truly poor in spirit means having a real need for God of whom we can never have enough. It’s about having a spiritual posture of humility, dependence and openness to God. It’s about having a trusting attitude toward God’s providence and guidance.

It’s when we are poor in spirit that we can in fact become rich toward God. This is when we can manage to cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with God. For this, we should focus on building a strong and intimate connection with God through prayer, worship and study of God’s word which we should try our best to put it into practice.

That is why Christ once said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 6,33) God assures us that everything will be taken care of as long as we always are with him and are not entangled in the things of this world.

Definitely for these things to happen, we need to practice spiritual disciplines like engaging in prayer, fasting, meditation on God’s word in the Scripture, etc. We need to grow in humility and dependence of God which can only lead us to the richness that truly matters in our life, considering who we really are.

We need to see to it that in our temporal affairs, even as we take care of their technical and other human and natural aspects and requirements, we should build up things like the virtues of honesty, integrity, patience, compassion, etc., because these are what would make us rich in what matters to God.

We have to continually check ourselves especially these days when we are bombarded with many tantalizing and intoxicating things that can capture our heart and remove God from it. It always pays to lead a very simple and austere life in spite of the great wealth that we may have.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com