The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-08-17
The Paradise Of God.
POVERTY.

His poverty, you might be rich."ft Cor q.
The Paradise of God is q region entirely
different in it's aspect from what we see in
the world around us. What is beautiful
and pfecious here, is of no value there /;
and what is there esteemed as treasure
and n glory, is here dreaded aud slammed
rs q calamity and a disgrace. The Sacred
Heart of Jesus has already given us many
instances of this contrast between it's spirit
and that of the world. Let as now
study another lesson of the same kind,
a lesson which it has always been most
DESTROYS to teach us, on account of its par
amount Importance for the good of our
souls. 1t is the lesson of Poverty: q lesson
so hard for our hearts to learn, and yetmost
necessary for us, if we would be the true
disciples of the Sacred Heart.
Our hearts are, by nature, c0vetous.
Our Creator Himself has made them SO,
but for Il loving and saving purpose. He
has planted in our hearts u longing for
good an intense, all absorbing desire to
possess good q desire which controls our
entire being, informs all our actions,
prompts all our aspirations, and governs
all the powers of soul and body. At the
same time, however, He bids us turn this
desire towards true and lasting good.
"They who would become rich, fall into
temptation and into many Improbable
and hurtful desires which drown men in
destruction. For cOvetousness is the root
of all evils" q Tim. g. He bids US love
true riches, strive for eternal treasures,
lay up treasures in heaven, where no thief
can plumber, no moth nor rust Destroy
(Matth, g. But our hearts have been de-
ceived by the false goods of this world,
and have turned their longing upon that
which appears to the senses, instead of
desiring, through faith and hope, the hid
den treasures of the future life /; our hearts
have become unwisely covetous and waste
their love upon objects unworthy of their
hap Irnt md hnn n
disorder in our entire nature whilst all
our desires pursue phantom instead of a
reality, and all our endenvors are directed
towards the possession of what is really
an evil instead of being good and our
entire being is controlled by seuseless,
feverish love for treasures which serve
only tesitk Our souls into perdition.- How
great is the folly of the human heart ! how
deplorable Naturalization which has seized
upon It'll Who would believe US were we to
relate that there is, in some remote region of
| the earth, n pOpulous nation of refined
| manners, polished taste and perfect educa-
ton, but whose members, great and small,
old and young, spend their whole lives
and employ all their energies in catching
ct the bubbles of the sea and endeavoring
to secure them unbroken, as most precious
gems Yet, what are all mankind strug
CLING for To what end do all their en-
dcavors tend 7 What do they esteem :
For what do they sacrifice repose, life, all 7
| What do they secure7 What do they
possess, and what sweetness do they draw
| from their possession Truly all is vanity
of vanities and affection of spirit, and
mankind is mad-beside itself with folly
which would be laughable, were it not the
cause of interminable ruin.
Here then is another deep wound of our
hearts which the Heart of Jesus desires to
heal. And again we shall see the wise love
of that Heart forgetting itself, sacrificing
CIy in ta q WI ToIA wall ms no
precept, least we should fail to be cured.
The Sacred Heart, then, is our model of
poverty, our teacher of what we should
love and desire to possess. And so well
does it know the depth of our wound, the
violence of our folly, that its very first
are the poor in spirit )" that is, blessed are
they who bear poverty of earthly goods
without complaint who care not for the
wealth of the world. And its very first
example too is an example of poverty.
Our first involuntaryex exclamation at the con
how utterly despoited of what tho world
calls riches! The straw, tho crib, the
swathing clothes, the rents in the roof,
the bitter blasts, all cry out How poor
how poor is the God of all good, the Pos
SCISSOR of all Treasures, the sovereign Lord
of the earth and of all that is in it J.! And
the next thought, if we choose to reflect on
the wonder before us, will be }: How and
why is this The answer is twofold it
is because He loves poverty and because
lie wishes US also to love it. To Him pow
erty is coveted prize, pearl above all
value, treasure which He had not found
in heaven, but which His all-seeing eye
had discovered in this distant world, where
it lay unknown aud uf1desired. To secure
this treasure, He gave up all His heavenly
possessions. His throne, His crown, His
glory, His joys and His honors, the songs
of His angels and the splendors OF. His
royalty, all was laid asides that He might
come down to this desert world to possess
the pearl which men would not esteem.
And hero we behold Him at His entrance
into His new possession. lie has seized upon
His treasure and His Heart is happy /; hap
by in the rags which cover His shivering
limbs happy in the straw which pierces
His tender body happy in the cold blasts
which play 80 rudeIy around Him happy
in the poverty of His parents, in the low
illness of His first adOrers, in the utter
GOODNESS of His welcome to His own world
and to those whom He comes to save. His
Heart beats with boundless Joy at all this,