Weekly Lenten Reflections 2005: Week 3

Refrain: Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants,

(BB 514) beyond my fears, from death into life.

1. God is my shepherd so nothing shall I want,

I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love,

I walk by the quiet waters of peace.

2. Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul,

you lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth,

my spirit shall sing the music of your name.

3. Though I should wander the valley of death

I fear no evil for you are at my side,

your rod and your staff, my comfort and my hope.

4. Surely your kindness and mercy follow me,

all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of my God forever more.

THEME: “The evil twin” of poverty: independence.

311. Jesus Christ lived poorly and simply, and did not cling to or depend upon the goods of this world. He invites us to live in like manner and calls us to leave all things and follow Him. Through our life in evangelical poverty, we free ourselves to place ourselves, our talents, our abilities, and all that we have effectively at the service of God’s people.

312. Through temporary, and perpetual profession, we oblige ourselves by vow to live evangelical poverty, in which we renounce the right of independently using or disposing of material goods, so that we grow in our reliance on God, and free ourselves for service and witness.

313. Our Founder had an unshakeable trust in Divine Providence. We likewise consider evangelical poverty fundamental to our Society being convinced that a spirit of poverty is absolutely necessary for the credibility of our lives and witness.

314. We live our evangelical poverty through a community of goods, sharing with one another all that we are, all that we have, and all that we receive, using everything responsibly. Bound by the common law of labor, we work together for our livelihood and plan the most fruitful disposition of our resources in ministry.

315. We live our personal and communal poverty in solidarity with the poor of the world, because each person has a fundamental right to live in human dignity and to share in the goods of the world. We avoid unnecessary accumulation of goods and share with those in need. Our lifestyle must witness to the Gospel. (SDS Const.)

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Coming from a very different economic and social situation than here, I find this vow of poverty and its evil twin, independence, the most difficult to talk about. In fact, I fear I may miss the point completely or say it poorly. But I shall try something.

From the outside evangelical poverty can look as if it were a matter of what we have or what we do without; what we share or who we share it with. In this way it reminds us of the external aspects of the vow of chastity. But like chastity, evangelical poverty concerns more than externals. It is really a matter of the heart.

Like a Stoic, a religious can get used to doing without many things. He can stop caring about his appearance, his clothes, even his health, his social and intellectual life, his family. Such a religious is a treasurer’s dream! He never asks for anything. He eats whatever is placed before him without complaint. He wears whatever he is given. I have even heard of religious who do not bother to pick up their vacation allowance. Is this one really the perfect religious? Or is he a man possessed by poverty’s evil twin: independence? From the outside it’s hard to tell.

For you see it is quite possible such a religious is living the vow this way really in order to be independent. He doesn’t want to ask. He does not want to risk being refused. He does not like to be or to feel he is dependent. And so he makes an art of doing without things, of not asking, and this passes for evangelical poverty.

But just as evangelical chastity is fundamentally about loving, evangelical poverty is fundamentally about dependence . . . needing more, not needing less. Our vow of poverty is intended to make us grow in trusting Divine Providence and in relying on the Society and on our confreres. But if we develop a lifestyle where we simply become independent, either by finding ways to secure everything we need in private ways, or by systematically training ourselves to need and want less and less, both of these strategies are the work of the evil twin.

When living in temporary vows this issue may not seem so urgent. After all, you have almost nothing and must ask for almost everything. But if you persevere in this life, the days are coming when that will change. What you must pay attention to even now are your dreams and desires. How do you feel when you must go to the treasurer or superior to ask for simple things? Do you long for the day when you will be able to “take care of yourself like a grown-up”? How do you feel when you have to account to someone else with receipts for the community money you are given? If you find yourself resisting compliance, wishing you could be more free, beware! You may be keeping company with the evil twin: independence.

What makes this issue so complicated is the fact that according to most psychologists, the appropriate life task of a man in his 20s and 30s is precisely independence. But in this area of our human development, as in our path to sexual maturity, we religious have taken a harder way, filled with many dangers. So beware the evil twin! And remember we succeed, if at all, only with God’s help.

By Fr. Dan, SDS