The kingdom of heaven is promised and given by the Lord only to the poor (Mt 5:3) for he who loves temporal things loses the fruits of love (first letter of St Clare to Agnes of Prague)

The radical nature of this Gospel command is confronting. The poor’ are those who are not caught up in ‘having things’. Having or possessing temporal things is fine, so long as our focus is on giving of ourselves to others and so building relationships and community: ’the fruits of love’. It is a fine line, as we can easily slip from having possessions to our possessions having us.

It is so easy for the young (and the not-so-young) to be seduced by the ‘latest’ and ‘best’. Our task is to model connectedness to others. We might also ask young people to reflect upon whether their ‘things’ build relationships with others…or actually set them in competition with others. Something for us all to ponder…

Have a great week!
Patrick