Meditations from Blessed Angela of Foligno.
For the feast of St. Joseph, I would like to highlight the second degree Bl. Angela discusses...
The second degree of Christ's poverty was greater than the first - that is, that he deigned to be poor in all the temporal things of this world. Christ desired to be poor in friends and kindred and in all familiarity with the great and powerful, and finally in all worldly friendship. Wherefore did he not possess, nor desire to possess any friend whatsoever of his own, nor yet of his mother or his putative father, Joseph, or his disciples.
For this reason they did not hesitate to kick him, strike him, and scourge him, and to speak hurtful words unto him. And he deigned to be born of a poor and humble mother and to be brought up subject unto a poor carpenter, his putative father.
He did likewise deprive himself of the love and familiar intercourse of kings and rulers, of priests and scribes, and of the love of friends and kindred - so that neither for his mother's sake, nor for any other person, would he leave undone aught the which could be pleasing unto his Almighty Father or according to his will. Amen.
Blessed Angela is projecting onto Christ the instruction nuns and other religious received for centuries...to have no close friend. Karl Rahner broke this in a special ( non erotic) friendship for a woman and paid for it with much hurt.
ReplyDeleteBut Christ had a beloved disciple, John, ergo he had a close friend. Christ hurt when His friends fell asleep and did not " watch" with Him in the garden. Christ wept in the Lazarus incident prior to raising him because His friends, Mary and Martha, both still did not who He was. They thought He could do nothing now that Lazarus was dead...even though they knew as Jews that both Elijah and Eliseus had raised the dead.
Blessed Angela is right about human religious vowed people...wrong about Christ.
Not only does this not seem to fit Christ (as shown in the Gospels), but what then does that mean for the rest of us? Is human friendship bad? What about Mary and Joseph, and the chaste love and martial friendship between them?
ReplyDeletebill & patrick beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteChrist had friends Patrick - think it through. He wept over lazarus, stayed with Mary and Martha and Lazarus, he had his apostles whom he called friends - the point here is he associated with the lowly, instead of going to banquets at Herod's or the Roman officials, wearing fine garments and so on - it's in the Gospels. He went to weddings and ensured they had more wine - he ate and drank with sinners. Why is this meditation so hard to understand?
ReplyDeleteAngela is not projecting anything from convents, monasteries or religious life - she is laity - her understanding is more closely related to the desert fathers - and for her time - Dorothy Day and Catherine of Genoa. Angela had friends and disciples - she lived with a companion. She lost her husband and children. Her passage here reminds us of Christ's admonition "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
What Gospel are you people reading? Perhaps I should reprint the entire manuscript so you get some context.
Thanks, Terry. I see what you mean now about the real point of the quote. Perhaps I read it too literally at first. I thought she was saying Christ had no friends because she said "Wherefore did he not possess, nor desire to possess any friend whatsoever of his own."
ReplyDeleteSome one is mis-taking my tone as 'touchy' or grouchy - I'm just trying to be clear. I'll try to use more smileys. :)
ReplyDelete