 7 Deadly Sins & 7 Life Giving Virtures "If you wish to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:20-21) The evangelical counsel
of poverty in imitation of Christ who, although He was rich became poor
for us, entails, besides a life which is poor in fact and in spirit, a
life of labor lived in moderation and foreign to earthly riches, a
dependence and a limitation in the use and disposition of goods
according to the norm of the proper law of each institute. The virtue of gospel or
evangelical poverty applies to all disciples of Jesus, whatever their
state in life or actual living conditions. What is meant by
evangelical poverty? To overcome our tendency
to avarice we must learn to listen to the cry of the poor. This
is a cry that arose not only in biblical times, not only in times of
primitive technology, but one that arises even in our affluent
age. In a world experiencing the full flood of development, this
persistence of poverty stricken masses and individuals still
constitutes a pressing call. The cry of the poor must
bar us from whatever would be a compromise with any form of social
injustice. From hard experience we know that social injustice is
all around us, and we know how easy it is to compromise with it.
It includes dishonest business practices, disregard for the rights of
employees or employers, neglectful and even harsh treatment of the
truly needy. Second the cry of the
poor must keep us from being carried away by an uncurbed seeking of our
own ease and from being enticed by the security of possessions,
knowledge and power. Third, the cry of the
poor must encourage us to fraternal sharing with our needy brothers and
sisters. Such sharing is an imperative in evangelical
poverty. It is a sharing that calls for generosity and trust in
the Lord. The truth is that many of us have enough and more than enough. To combat the deadly sin
of avarice we have an obligation to evaluate social and economic
activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless. This
arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's
self. Those who are marginalized and whose rights are denied have
privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all. This
option recognizes that the deprivation of powerlessness of the poor
wounds the whole community. Who should respond? The
temptation for us is to let the government or the other person
respond. Perhaps this is our time to accept our personal
responsibility. -thoughts taken from Choosing Virtue in a Changing World: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins Please Email Us With Any Comments or Feedback At ©2005 CopperCountry.com,Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |
