says: Having nothing, yet possessing all things.[1] The true lovers of God have nothing, and yet have everything; since, when temporal goods fail them, they exclaim: "My Jesus, Thou alone art sufficient for me;" and with this they rest satisfied. Not only did the saints maintain patience in poverty, but sought to be despoiled of all, in order to live detached from all, and united with God alone. If we have not courage enough to renounce all worldly goods, at all events let us be contented with that state of life in which God has placed us; let our solicitude be not for earthly goods, but for those of Paradise, which are immeasurably greater, and last for ever; and let us be fully persuaded of what St. Teresa says: "The less we have here, the more we shall have there."[2]
St. Bonaventure said that temporal goods were nothing more than a sort of bird-lime to hinder the soul from flying to God. And St. John Climacus[3] said, that poverty, on the contrary, is a path which leads to God free of all hindrances. Our Lord himself said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.[4] In the other Beatitudes, the heaven of the life to come is promised to the meek and to the clean of heart; but to the poor, heaven (that is, heavenly joy) is promised even in this life: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Yes, for even in the present life the poor enjoy a foretaste of paradise. By the poor in spirit are meant those who are not merely poor in earthly goods, but who do not so much as desire them; who, having enough to clothe and feed them, live contented, according to the advice of the Apostle: But having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are
