The poverty of God

61. According to the writers of the psalms, those songs of the Old Testament, "the poor" are identified with "the just", "the righteous", those who "seek God", "fear God", "trust in God", those who "are blessed", "his servants" and who "know his name".

The whole of the light of the "ANAWIM", the poor under the first Covenant, converge towards the woman who forms the hinge between the two Testaments, as if reflected in a concave mirror. In Mary, all the devotion to Yahweh and all the experience which guided the people of Israel shone forth and took flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Her "Magnificat" is the hymn of praise which bears witness to Christ: the hymn of the poor whose wealth is God alone (Cf. Lk. 1:46 ff).

This hymn opens with an explosion of joy, expressing immense gratitude: "my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour". But it is not for riches or power that Mary rejoiced. She saw herself as small, lowly and humble. This basic idea runs throughout her hymn of praise, in total contrast to anything dealing with pride, or the thirst for power and wealth. Those who desire these things are "scattered", "put down from their thrones" and "sent empty away".

Jesus himself took up this teaching of his mother in his Gospel discourse on the Beatitudes. They open — and it is no coincidence — with the words, "Blessed are the poor". His words show what this new person is in opposition to the "wealth" which he criticizes.

It is to the poor that Jesus addresses his Good News (Cf. Lk. 4:18). The "allurement of wealth", conversely, prevents people from following Christ (Cf. Mk. 4:19). We cannot serve two masters, God and mammon (Cf. Mt. 6:24). Concern for the morrow is the sign of a pagan mentality (Cf. Mt. 6:32). For Jesus, these are not just fine words. Indeed, he bore witness to them in his own life: "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Mt. 8:20).