"The Lord hears the cry of the poor, blessed be the Lord!"
This refrain from the familiar Catholic Hymn reminds one immediately of St. Bernadette's family situation at the time of the apparitions. One cannot but be moved when reading about or actually visiting this site where Bernadette and her family were forced to live: an abandoned jail, the Cachot.
We see in life people who are poverty-stricken from birth, those who end up poor by an number of circumstances and those who choose poverty for the sake of the Gospel.
Jesus himself said, "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Those of us who choose to follow Jesus in living the Evangelical Counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience come across a real challenge in today's materialistic society. We must keep our eyes on heaven and not on the passing things of this world. Our prayer life will keep our hearts focused on the Lord. He is our true treasure. "Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart is also." (Mt 6:21)
From OCDS rule:
Since poverty of spirit is the first Beatitude or blessing of the Sermon on the Mount, it is not surprising that the Lay Carmelite is at once reminded that he or she "should have a particular esteem for the Beatitude of poverty. ..Poverty always brings with it simplicity of life,and this will enable us to go directly to God in love and to bring His love to others.
"To be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect, means to have the soul of the poor and to make real the first Beatitude where the perfect joy is the joy of the gift of self...God , who is only Love, cannot possess anything, God who is the opposite to narcissism, ownership, only reaches us, and can only reach us through Love."
Bernadette displayed this "soul of the poor" when she stated, "I love the poor. I want to remain poor." And about money, "It burns me!"
St. Teresa of Jesus exhorted her nuns to have full trust that the Lord would provide for their needs. If we truly follow the Gospel command of "seek first the kingdom of God", we will surely rise to the heights of Mt. Carmel-Christ Our Lord.
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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