Evangelical poverty is the heart of the spirituality of St. Francis of
Assisi. Even the familiar diminutive by which he is still called — ll
Poverello, the little Poor Man —
affirms this. But why did Francis esteem poverty so highly?
DETACHMENT enables
us to enter into the mystery of self-emptying love. For the goal of DETACHMENT,
whether it is from material wealth or spiritual "riches," is to help us to
live empty of self. In the day-to-day details of life, DETACHMENT transforms
the grasping hand of the old Adam in us, tightly closed around the forbidden
fruit, into the open, giving hand of the new Adam, Jesus.
The hand which
DETACHMENT
has opened can grasp in faith the guiding hand of our heavenly Father and
walk the path of faith in complete
DOCILITY.
Contrary to what many think,
DOCILITY
is not servility, nor is It naiveté. A dodle person is a teachable person, a
lead-able person, someone who can, in full freedom, be guided in the ways of
holiness — like St. Francis! After the great act of
DETACHMENT
which
was his public renunciation, we find the Little Poor Man growing richer and
richer in the virtue of
DOCILITY
as he let the Spirit
lead him along the marvelous path of holy Gospel
living.
DETACHMENT
and
DOCILITY
likewise prepared Francis of Assisi to be a man of deep and abiding
DEVOTEDNESS.
Once he had detached himself from everything and become a docile instrument
in the Lord's hands, no one was more
DEVOTED
to God and neighbor than the Little Poor Man. Francis, in his loyal, loving,
faithful fulfillment of love's every duty, echoed the supreme apologia of
DEVOTEDNESS
uttered by his Divine Master:
That the world
may know I love the father... and do always what pleases Him!
Not everyone is called
to a life of radical evangelical poverty. But everyone can learn from St.
Francis the great spiritual art of
DETACHMENT
which leads to an ever increasing
DOCILITY
to the unfolding of God's plan and a deepening
DEVOTEDNESS
to the fulfillment of His will. It is 3-D living that enhances and enriches
life, almost beyond imagining!
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