The disciples of the Lord Jesus, on a certain Sabbath day being hungry, and having no food at hand, passed through some fields in which there was corn, and, plucking the ears of wheat, rubbed them between their hands, and did eat.1 But the Pharisees reproached them, saying, that it was not lawful to do this on the Sabbath. The Lord, however, defended them, and did Himself many things on the Sabbath day, as I have before said when treating of the man who had a withered hand. Behold, then, His disciples, and pity them, placed, as they were, in such a strait, although they did this act in a gleeful spirit from their love of poverty, which their Lord and Master had commanded in the first of the Beatitudes. What a spectacle is this ! The princes of the world, in the presence of its Creator, reduced to such a degree of want, that they were obliged to take nourishment after the manner of the cattle, to sustain life ! The Lord regarded them with a look of deep compassion, because He loved them most tenderly. And yet He rejoiced, both for their sakes when He thought of the question of their future reward, and on our account, because such a fair example was thus left to us. In this example, we may find a lesson from many virtues. Here, poverty shines forth brilliantly ; here, the pomp of the world is openly despised ; here, extravagance, luxury, gluttony, effeminacy, greed, are completely overthrown. Observe, then, this example, and embrace the virtues it sets forth with your whole heart In our Lord, in His mother, in His disciples, the princes of the world, in all who have striven to imitate them perfectly, — detachment from the things of time and sense has been a characteristic virtue.
But give attention to the kind of poverty of which I speak. There are those who separate themselves externally from all possessions, and bind themselves not to return to them. Give thanks for the grace which is given to you, and be faithful to Him that calleth you. But I go deeper than this : though the one rightly should involve the other, external poverty is of no value without internal. I speak of poverty of spirit, for virtues have their roots in the soul, not in outward actions. No outward observance of poverty is of avail without detachment of heart. For if you are empty externally only, and full within, and do not mortify your desires and sensual appetites, but crave their indulgence, your life is not one of true poverty, but of misery. Such a life is without virtue and reward; it is a laborious and fruitless dissatisfaction. For evil desire with consent is sufficient to destroy all moral worth, and constitutes sin. Do not suppose that, with such a state of heart, you can rise up to prayer or contemplation, or receive the hundred-fold reward. How can you draw near to the purity of God and of Heaven, when you are polluted and grimed with the mire and filth of earth? Therefore love to be poor in spirit, and detached from earthly possessions ; let the beauty of such poverty be dear to you and attract you. Keep the form of it perfect, and yield not to the desire of unnecessary things.
If you ask, “What is necessary ?” I reply, that which you cannot do without But even if you renounce all, not only in spirit, but in act, your poverty will fall far short of that of Jesus Christ, and will bear no comparison with it. His poverty was one of contrast, for He was rich and the Lord of all, and He assumed voluntarily a form of poverty which involved not only want, but contempt. Those who give up all become oftentimes honourable in the eyes of others, on account of their unselfishness ; but Christ’s poverty, though it was of all the most voluntary, yet was it not so understood at the time, and therefore it brought Him nothing but shame and reproach. When He was seen by all, to be without home, without possessions, without any resource whatever, He was all the more despised. The poor, alas, are often trodden down by the world ; let us be careful that we do not despise those who in a special sense represent the Lord. That it is desirable for us to become, at least in spirit, like our Lord in this matter, let us hear what S. Bernard says thereon : “Let us imitate as much as we can Him who so loved poverty, that, although He held the ends of the earth in His hand, yet had He not where to lay His Head ; so that His disciples, we read, were so pressed with hunger that they rubbed the ears of com with their hands and eat them, as they passed through the field.”2 And again, “Why should the Saviour, who possessed all riches, make poverty sacred in His own body ? Why does this poverty occupy so conspicuous a place in the Angel’s message? ‘This,’ said he, ‘shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.3 Yes, Lord Jesu, the swaddling clothes are placed for a sign; but for a sign which, by many to this day, shall be spoken against. This is given to us for an example, that we should do the same.” 2 And further on, the same writer says, “In our conflict a breastplate of iron is more useful than a linen garment ; although the one is burdensome, and the other is honourable.” And again, “It is a great and intolerable abuse, that a vile worm should wish to be rich, for whose sake the God of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, willed to become poor.” And in another place, S. Bernard says, “It is not poverty which is estimated a virtue, it is the affection toward it and the spirit of it” “The friendship of the poor makes friends of kings ; but poverty makes us kings, for to the poor ‘ is the kingdom of heaven.’” And below, “Blessed is he who is not attached to goods, the possession of which is an anxiety ; the affection for which, a stain ; the loss of which, a torture.”