Fr. Thomas Dubay, SM, on the Ten Premises of Gospel Poverty

The Premises of Gospel Poverty | Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M. | From Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom

Our purpose at the moment is to delve into premises. Political practices and religious teachings cannot be understood except in terms of their root presuppositions. The practical running of a state makes sense only in the light of the assumptions of the people. Revolutions happen not only because policies are unjust but also because radical philosophies differ. Policies flow out of premises. The same is true of religion. Buddhist theory is consistent with its agnostic position a propos of God. Protestantism must accept the fragmenting consequences of private judgment, and Catholic canon law reflects its acceptance of the divine origin of the hierarchical Church.

One badly misunderstands Gospel poverty if he views it as nothing more than a humanistic concern for the downtrodden or as a politico-sociological effort to redistribute the world's resources. The more a man studies evangelical poverty, the more he is struck by the elaborate yet consistent intertwining of doctrinal themes with actual practice.

Our immediate problem is not to show these intertwinings. That I shall do further on. Our real difficulty is the human propensity to judge by sympathies, not by evidence. I fear that some readers will admit the intertwinings during their encounter with these pages but then revert to merely human presuppositions as they continue on through the rest of the book in its practical applications to the various states in life. It is not easy for us to learn that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not ours.

In lecture work I have found that I may explain at length and, I think, with clarity, radical revealed premises and then find that when we get to the nitty-gritty applications, some listeners have reverted to their own prosaic premises. Naturally enough, their conclusions are at variance with mine. What is still more disturbing is that many of these people seem unaware that they have either forgotten the revealed roots of the matter (though I had developed them twenty minutes earlier) or that their position is in consistent with those roots. What concerns me is that this chapter may be forgotten as we work through the later ones.

Nonetheless, we hope for the best and present the New Testament premises undergirding its teaching on the use and misuse of material goods. Once these are granted, the rest of this volume makes perfect sense. Nothing else does.

Our first revealed presupposition: our destiny is literally out of this world. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard; indeed, it cannot even dawn on our unaided imagination the unspeakable delight God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9). Before this destiny all worldly glitter is dull, all tinsel is cheap, all adventure is prosaic, all attraction is unsatisfying. I am well aware that this kind of language strikes some people as pious puff. Though one could prove that it is as solid as granite, I shall not do so. People who best know from experience, the saints, have said it far better than I ever could. The doubter should study before he rejects. If he studies and is of good will, he will not reject. Be that as it may, I merely assert the New Testament premise: nothing, absolutely nothing on the face of the earth compares with the advanced possession of God in deep prayer. We understand the Christic teaching on material goods only when we understand this.

Premise number two follows on the first: in this new era happiness is found not in eating and drinking this or that but in personal goodness and in the peace and joy given by the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). We are to rejoice in the Lord always, not simply occasionally (Phil 4:4). A consumerist society assumes quite the contrary. One needs only to read its advertising to be convinced of it—which is one reason it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mk 10:25). The New Testament assumes that happiness is found not in things but in persons and especially in the Divine Persons.

And this suggests our third presupposition: we are to be head over heels in love for God. We ate to be so in love that we sing to him in our hearts always and everywhere (Eph 5:19-20). Every fiber of our being, heart, soul, and mind, is to become wholly love (Lk 10:27). People in love are not much concerned with things. They are person orientated, not thing centered. A consumerist is not in love.

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Comments

[Dr. J+ Crotty]

Carl, Thank you for this post. I just came off of a weekend retreat here in the Diocese of Lincoln, NE on which I had spent most of my spare time reading Fr. Dubay's book. When I saw this posted, I thought it a bit of an affirmation (i.e. intervention of the Holy Spirit!) following hard on the heals of today's Gospel, that the duty of our family is to implement the opportunities he has so succinctly proposed. Having discussed this and agreed, my wife and I will now begin, using Lent as a springboard, to plan our way into evangelical poverty. St. Francis, pray for us! And may perpetual light shine on the soul of Fr. Thomas, he will be missed.