By Tom Thomas –
“Saar , saar,” the plea along with the intense knocking on the window brought me out of my reverie. It had been a long week at work and dozing off in the comfortable air-conditioned rear of my chauffeur-driven car, seemed but a natural way to help me recuperate on the way home through the traffic-choked roads.
We had stopped at a traffic light. Startled out of my slumber by the grizzled old man with dishevelled clothes, I rolled down the window a bit, and the pungent smell of the heat outside and his unwashed body hit me. Mentally trying to judge in a few seconds, is this a genuine case before me to help or not, before I could reach for my wallet, the light turned green. The car had to lurch forward to give way to the impatient honking of the traffic behind. This left me unable to service his requests for help in any form. Seeing his forlorn figure retreat in the distance, I was disturbed by this brief interaction.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Later that evening in a Friday evening Bible study class that I was part of, the experienced teacher of the Scriptures was expounding on this verse found in the Gospel of Mathew 5: 3. The first Beatitude. The first in the set of teachings taught by the Lord for us to live a life of happiness. He went on to explain what poor in spirit meant – total reliance on the Lord in all matters. He said this Beatitude was key to the whole New Testament.
I could not focus on the class anymore and found myself drifting back to the incident at the traffic light earlier that day. Was the man who begged for alms surely not having the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven much more than I did? He relied on providence for his daily needs, much as many great Saints of the Church did in their lives too. St Francis of Assisi, Don Bosco, St Mother Teresa ,St Jeanne Juggan and the recent saint Charles de Foucauld come to mind. They relied solely on providence for their Unique Missions in life and God never let them down, their orders thrive all over the world, touching many lives, even when they are long gone.
Conflicted, I looked at this subject a little deeper. The Holy Father has given an extensive talk on this topic on the 29th World Youth day. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2559 and 2560 explains the nature of prayer, and what it means to be poor in spirit before the Lord, in fact, one needs to be a beggar before the Lord.
I had judged the alms seeker in my mind, much as the Pharisee judged the Publican in Lk 18: 91-14. He was surely having the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven much more than I. Crestfallen, I wanted to see him once more, and this time to make sure I do not pass up the opportunity to do something for him, who relies solely on Providence for his daily needs.
Another day. Another trip back home on the same route. At the same traffic light, at approximately the same time, I fail to sight him. The one who taught me so much by his simple life, emulating as St Francis says “Preach the Gospel, if necessary, use words.”
St. Francis is the supreme human example of poverty and simplicity. He said he had nothing against science, nor against property in general but that he knew, he the son of a rich clothing merchant of Assisi, how difficult it is to possess something and to remain the friend of all people – above all, the friend of Jesus Christ. In the early years of Francis when he had companions and lived in the dilapidated habitation of Rivo Torto the Bishop of Assisi was appalled at the extreme poverty of the Friars. Francis declared, “My Lord Bishop, if we had any possessions, we would need arms to defend them.” Our possessions make us masters and owners and the other becomes not a brother or sister, but an intruder or an enemy. Only the poor in spirit and in reality can come before God and say, “You are my everything; you are enough for me!”
Thank you, Alms-seeker, for opening my eyes to what is truly needed to secure a position in the Kingdom of Heaven.