Dogs or Dollars

Learning to appreciate the riches of poverty

10/27/2019

Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.

Did you ever think that being poor could actually make you rich? The two terms “poverty” and “riches” don’t usually go together. Yet, I am convinced there is a goldmine of wealth that lies hidden in the poor. How we do usua

lly determine who is rich? Sometimes we judge a person’s wealth by the size of the house they live in, or the brand of the car they drive (like my Chevy), or the fine quality of their clothes, etc. Sometimes, we even look at a person’s zip code. Remember that 90’s television show called “Beverly Hills 90210”? The zip code said it all. That’s how we typically tell the rich from the poor, the haves from the have-nots.

One day a wealthy man took his son on a trip to the country so his son could see first-hand how the poor country people lived, and by contrast, be impressed by their own mansion. They stayed one day and one night at the farm of a very humble farm family. When they returned home, the father asked the son, “What did you think of the trip?” The son replied: “Very nice, dad.” His dad probed further: “Did you notice how poor they were?” The son answered, “Yes, I did.” The father pushed a little further: “So, what did you learn from this trip?” The boy replied: “I learned that we have one dog in the house, and they had four dogs. We have a fountain and imported lamps in our garden, they have a stream with no end and all the stars to shed light on their garden. Our lawn goes to the edge of our property, they have the entire horizon as their backyard.” At the end of the son’s reply, the father was speechless. The son punctuated his answer by adding: “Thank you, dad, for showing me how poor we really are.” Children measure wealth by how many dogs you have rather than how many dollars.

The book of Sirach, our first reading, also notices certain “riches” in poverty. Sirach says poetically: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.” In other words, the poor and lowly have the Lord’s ear and his heart when they pray to him, and he does not hesitate to help them. God gives the poor dogs and endless streams and sparkling stars and the whole horizon for their home. Most especially he gives them his love, which is the greatest wealth in the world.

May I share a few of personal observations about the riches of poverty, the wealth that the poor possess? First of all, the poor possess a greater degree of freedom of movement. Have you ever noticed how the homeless do not reside in one place very long, but most freely about the country? Priests, too, are called to cultivate a spirit of detachment from material things. Why? Well, so we can move more easily from parish to parish. One priest joked that when we are ordained the bishop should buy us all a Winnebago, so we could drive up to a new parish, and plug in and pray. When it was time to leave, we just unplug and proceed to the next parish. In other words, poverty of spirit leads to a freedom of spirit.

Another wealth that proceeds from poverty is spiritual sight and vision. On the other hand, a surplus of possessions can cause spiritual blindness. Revelation 3:17 severely criticizes the prosperous city of Laodicea, saying: “For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor blind and naked.” Helen Keller, who was born blind, once remarked very insightfully: “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” A surplus of materials goods can make us blind to spiritual goods, like faith. We have sight but no vision. Is that why atheism is one of the fastest growing groups in our country?

A third treasure of poverty is living for a transcendent purpose, that is, to discover a vocation to be a priest, a religious sister, a monk or a nun. That is, we live more for the next world than for this world. Materials goods are good (to be sure), but they can weigh us down and chain our feet to the floor of this world. Poverty, however, provides us with wings to soar to heaven and kiss the face of God. Have you ever wondered why your pastor is from India, or your associate pastor is from Mexico? Do we ever ask why our own children do not become priests or nuns? I think we can find the answer in Luke 18. Jesus invited the rich young man to follow him, to become a disciple, a priest, but he went away sad. Why? Luke 18:23 reads: “When he heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.” Sometimes the good (material things) becomes the enemy of the best (spiritual things).

Folks, I hope you’re hearing this homily is the right spirit. I know we are all working hard to get ahead, to enjoy the fruits of our labors, and to give our kids a better life than we had. I am glad God has blessed many of you financially, and I’m really glad you share those blessing with the church! All that is very good. Yet, there is a certain downside of material prosperity, namely, spiritual poverty. On the other hand, material poverty can lead to a sort of spiritual prosperity. Some define wealth by dollars, but others define it by dogs.

Praised be Jesus Christ!