Go on over to my other blog, Embracing Motherhood to listen to my conversation with Lisa Hendey of Catholic Mom.Com on her podcast. You can listen from your computer.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Hi Donna-Marie,
I am a Christian from the UK. I came across your blog while surfing Blogland. I wonder if I may ask you a question about a topic that appears frequently on your postings - poverty. Why is it many Christians praise poverty? Why is it many Christians praise poverty while not living in poverty? If you, for example, were poor, you would not be able to have a blog, as poor people cannot afford computers, electricity, telephone bills etc, let alone rent for a house.
Hi Donna Marie, Thanks for your reply and including my question as a post. May I comment on what you said?
I suggested poor people would not have a blog because they could not afford a computer, telephone bill etc. You stated poor people could use their local library to maintain a blog. I know many poor people and none have a blog. The reality is material poverty has an effect spiritually, educationally and on our aspirations. As for Jesus being poor, I see no evidence in Scripture to support this widely held Christian belief. The Gospel tells us Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room at the inn - not because Joseph was too poor to pay. Joseph ran his own construction business, not a lowly carpenter shop as people romantically imagine, so he would have been wealthy. In fact, one of his biggest clients would have been the Roman army. Also, if Jesus was poor, wore poor clothes etc, why did the Roman soldiers gamble for his clothes at the crucifiction? If he dressed like a poor man, they would have been thrown aside. I'm glad you said Mother Teresa did not admonish the rich. Her calling and that of her order, is very specific and not common amongst Christians. I knew some of her nuns where I used to live, and that was their view. The problem is when any of us speak of the 'rich' we always think of someone else. So, I think a movie star is rich and the movie star thinks the studio owner is rich and the studio owner thinks the oil billionaire is rich and so on. I think it is very hard to define "a simpler lifestyle.' To me, a moivie star lives in excess with every luxury. But to someone in the Third World earning $1 a day, my lifestyle (I have a nice house, water, electricity, overseas holidays etc) seems like the lifestyle of a millionaire, but that I certainly am not! I think Christians of all denominations, have tended to take a mistaken view of poverty and richess and misunderstood Jesus' message here. He convicted one rich young man but not Zacchaeus the tax collector, who even after giving away a lot of his money, would still have been rich. May I suggest reading an excellent article on poverty written by Eddie Russell who founded the Catholic Charismatic group, Flame Ministries. www.flameministries.org He gets the right balance between rich and poor - and states that if Jesus came to give the Good News, the Good News for the poor is they don't have to be poor any longer.
2 comments:
Hi Donna-Marie,
I am a Christian from the UK. I came across your blog while surfing Blogland. I wonder if I may ask you a question about a topic that appears frequently on your postings - poverty.
Why is it many Christians praise poverty? Why is it many Christians praise poverty while not living in poverty?
If you, for example, were poor, you would not be able to have a blog, as poor people cannot afford computers, electricity, telephone bills etc, let alone rent for a house.
Blessings
James
Hi Donna Marie,
Thanks for your reply and including my question as a post.
May I comment on what you said?
I suggested poor people would not have a blog because they could not afford a computer, telephone bill etc. You stated poor people could use their local library to maintain a blog. I know many poor people and none have a blog. The reality is material poverty has an effect spiritually, educationally and on our aspirations.
As for Jesus being poor, I see no evidence in Scripture to support this widely held Christian belief. The Gospel tells us Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room at the inn - not because Joseph was too poor to pay. Joseph ran his own construction business, not a lowly carpenter shop as people romantically imagine, so he would have been wealthy. In fact, one of his biggest clients would have been the Roman army. Also, if Jesus was poor, wore poor clothes etc, why did the Roman soldiers gamble for his clothes at the crucifiction? If he dressed like a poor man, they would have been thrown aside.
I'm glad you said Mother Teresa did not admonish the rich. Her calling and that of her order, is very specific and not common amongst Christians. I knew some of her nuns where I used to live, and that was their view.
The problem is when any of us speak of the 'rich' we always think of someone else. So, I think a movie star is rich and the movie star thinks the studio owner is rich and the studio owner thinks the oil billionaire is rich and so on.
I think it is very hard to define "a simpler lifestyle.' To me, a moivie star lives in excess with every luxury. But to someone in the Third World earning $1 a day, my lifestyle (I have a nice house, water, electricity, overseas holidays etc) seems like the lifestyle of a millionaire, but that I certainly am not!
I think Christians of all denominations, have tended to take a mistaken view of poverty and richess and misunderstood Jesus' message here. He convicted one rich young man but not Zacchaeus the tax collector, who even after giving away a lot of his money, would still have been rich.
May I suggest reading an excellent article on poverty written by Eddie Russell who founded the Catholic Charismatic group, Flame Ministries. www.flameministries.org
He gets the right balance between rich and poor - and states that if Jesus came to give the Good News, the Good News for the poor is they don't have to be poor any longer.
Blessings
James
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