Cardinal: True wealth cannot be measured by status, possessions
From the Website of CBCP
Cardinal: True wealth cannot be measured by status, possessions
MANILA — Cardinal Jose Advincula urged Catholics to stop measuring their worth by status, possessions and achievements, pointing to St. Francis of Assisi’s life of poverty as a path to freedom.
“Saint Francis reminds us of another kind of wealth. A wealth that cannot be bought,” Advincula said in his homily at a Mass at the University of Santo Tomas marking the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis on Oct. 3.
The Manila archbishop said true wealth comes from “a heart free enough to give, humble enough to serve, and empty enough to receive God.”
He urged the faithful to let go of their need for recognition and their desire to control people and circumstances.
“We need to die to our need to be admired … and desire to measure our worth by our position, possessions, and accomplishments,” he said.
Advincula said Franciscan poverty is not simply about owning fewer things but about becoming free from attachments that prevent people from serving God and others.
Francis was born into a wealthy family and initially sought military glory before his conversion led him toward a life of poverty, service and solidarity with the marginalized.
His defeat and imprisonment challenged his ambitions for worldly honor, while his encounter with a leper changed how he saw people living on society’s margins, Advincula said.
Francis eventually learned to see the poor not as people to avoid or pity from a distance, but as brothers and sisters, the cardinal said.
The anniversary marks the death of Francis on Oct. 3, 1226, at the Portiuncula in Assisi, Italy.
The Mass brought together members of the Franciscan family through the Inter-Franciscan Ministers Conference of the Philippines, with Dominican priests also attending.
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