“He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8).
Dear Father, the day is coming when You will remind us through Your Church of the great work You have accomplished through Your Son. There on Golgotha, You destroyed death forever. Then the tears will be wiped away, for every person can receive eternal life if they believe in Your Son and recognize Your love.
Today I would like to conclude this short series in which we have addressed certain aspects of the three evangelical counsels and their application by the Lord’s disciples who live in the world. As far as the third counsel is concerned, it is not so easy to apply it in the world, since voluntary poverty for the Lord’s sake can take on very radical forms, as we see both in the New Testament and in many examples throughout the history of the Church.
Just think of the community of goods in the early Church, as presented to us in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:44–45). We can also recall the hermits and the many monastic communities who made this ideal a reality, abandoning everything to follow Christ and giving their possessions to the poor. To this day, this remains an immensely valuable call. May God grant that many respond to it and that there continue to be communities that make it a reality.
