When I was in Africa I reflected a lot on the first
beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” In our first reading from
Isaiah we hear a similar description: “The lowly will ever find joy in the
LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy
One of Israel.”
From
our perspective, the people I visited had nothing compared to us. About one in ten families have a
car. Water can’t be drunk from a
faucet. It is rare for the average
person to eat meat often. Some
communities have only recently received electricity.
Yet just when I started to feel bad for them I realized
they were happy. These, my
brothers and sisters, were filled to the brim with joy. Depression, anxiety and suicide are
virtually non existent. Plus they
were the most hospitable people I have ever met. My suspicion is that because they have nothing, they have everything. They have God and their families, and
that is enough, and that is what spiritual poverty is all about.
Providentially, I was visiting Ghana during their
presidential elections. Wouldn’t
you know, neither of their candidates supports abortion (which is illegal in
their country). Their society
doesn’t think it necessary to vote on what marriage is (in fact, they were
appalled when I explained the Marriage Amendment to them). When the bishops speak, the government
listens as the Church and government work in concert for the people. Our country could learn a lot from
theirs.
Today we pray for our Ghanaian brothers and sisters as
they go to vote. We pray that a
poverty of spirit may continue to be present in their lives and that we may
grow in spiritual poverty. Only
then may we inherit the kingdom of heaven.
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