Gods word of the day

TO BECOME A

BEGGAR

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:3

 

      When I was going through a tough time in college, I lost all my friends. It wasn’t because they were fair-weather friends, but because I chose to keep things to myself rather than burden them with my problems.

       At a recent youth encounter with the Pope at the University of Sto. Tomas, Rikki Macolor recounted how their engineering project provided light and gave hope to the Yolanda victims. The young inventor is a model of selflessness, and yet Pope Francis had this to say, “You still lack one thing.”

       The Holy Father advised that everyone has to learn how to become a beggar, to be evangelized by those we give help to. He said even the poor, the sick and the orphans have much to teach us. It takes incredible humility to learn to accept love and to acknowledge that we are not self-sufficient.

       “Do you know you, too, are poor? Do you know your own poverty and need to receive?” asked Pope Francis.

      I could have translated it to my old self: “Do you know that to unburden your friends, you have to allow them to help you? In order to give, first allow yourself to receive.”