St. Joseph: The Spirit of Poverty

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God should be EVERYTHING to you, and you should be NOTHING to yourself.

If any task of yours, whether it be the conquering of a vice, a penance or due mortification, or any duty according to your state, whatever it might be, seems abhorrent to you or cause you to recoil even in the slightest by its undertaking and even for a moment, promptly remember that as it is your duty, it is given to you by God.  The task that is most abhorrent to you, is the greatest medicine for your sickened soul and weak will, because every duty of yours suits you according to God's Providence (God's Will).  And to say that it 'suits you', is only in the context that it is, in fact, a tremendous mercy, and in that remembrance, one should seek to promptly and more assiduously apply himself to those tasks that are, by that portion of his will that is yet ordered to God, that are, to him, least desirable.  This is the proof of one's professed love for God, and will do more to bring him to unite his will to God's than any other activity, regardless of how it is perceived by man, since such reluctance to do one's duty is a sign of that distance one holds himself away from God.  

Remember St. Joseph's spirit of poverty; his humility is what allowed him to carry out his tasks as the foster-father of Jesus.  One who carefully observes even that little that we know of this great saint, will notice that his wisdom was NOT at all of the way of the world, but rather, he had within him the very humility and meekness of God, given to him by his meekness and promptness to do whatever God willed and as He willed.  St. Joseph trusted not himself, but God, even when God was silent to him.    St. Joseph sought only God, as he saw him to be not only the source of all God, but God, to St. Joseph, was his every good, his all.


As God was St. Joseph's all, St. Joseph was able to have a spirit of detachment for all created goods.  As the great saint and Doctor of the Church described of herself, St. Teresa of Avila said it was important only "to use (created things) as if I use them not."    Detachment of created goods offers one the ability to see themselves clearly and consistently in the eyes of God, as their end is in view (the "Four Last Things"), and therefore, created goods are used to the end of God's Will.  It is only by uniting one's will to God that one's  efforts to a given task gathers merit and the fruit of God's blessing.

Backbiting

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An excerpt from,

Sins of the Tongue: The Backbiting Tongue

by Father Belet, of the Diocese of Basle

Translated from the French, 1870 ed.

"There are eight specific ways in which a man can backbite his neighbor:


1. When he gets carried away by vanity and imputes things against his neighbor that never happened, or when he adds to the truth imaginary circumstances that constitute either a lie or detraction.


2. When he brings a hidden or unknown fault to light. What he says is true, but he should not say it. He backbites, not by saying something untrue, but by wounding his neighbor's reputation. This is a very common sin among us.Now you might object, "Do you mean to say I can't tell the truth ?" No, my friend. It is not permitted, unless you can do so without harming your neighbor. What you say is true, I admit, but it is hidden. The sinner has wounded his conscience in God's sight, but he has not lost his reputation before men; therefore, you may not weaken or destroy it with your tongue. And even if the sin you reveal is not altogether secret but known only to a few, as long as it is not public knowledge, you are backbiting if you reveal it to someone who was unaware of it And thus you are harming your neighbor.


3. When he exaggerates a crime, be it true, or false. This is a danger to which we readily expose ourselves when we talk about the vices of others.


4. When he relates something about another person that is not evil in any way, but speaks as though his neighbor had done it for evil reasons and adds various explanations such as, "Yes, he did that, but not with God in mind... He's not so pious as all that; he seeks to please men, he wants to stand out… You should know him, he's a hypocrite."


5. When a backbiter declares nothing but is happy to say, "I've heard it said that…" or, "There's a rumor going around..." or when he relates something as if it were doubtful: "So-and-so might not be exactly what you think, I don't think he is deserving of confidence. His neighbors never heard anything about his holiness, except that only since yesterday has he been rated among the devout." Or again, when he praises with coldness and reticence. Aulu-Gelle says, "It is more shameful to be coldly and reservedly praised than harshly and bitterly accused." All these ways of acting must be avoided with the greatest care, for people always seek evil more than good.


6. Backbiting is so subtle that anyone can defame another person with a simple gesture. He hears someone being praised for his integrity, piety or generosity, and he says, "Oh. you don't know that fellow? I see right through him. Ask me anything about him, I know him inside out." Or he raises an eyebrow and remains silent; he shakes his head; he turns his eyes so as to have it understood that the person being praised does not deserve it Sometimes a backbiter may keep his mouth shut and just turn his hand two or three times to indicate that the person in question is lightheaded and changes from hour to hour.


7. He can backbite not only with body language but also with silence. He may wickedly say nothing about the integrity or morals of his neighbor, especially when he is questioned about them or when his neighbor is accused of some crime.


8. Finally, a person is guilty of backbiting if he is publicly blamed for something he did, and he denies his guilt, thereby making his accuser pass for a liar. It is surely not an obligation to publicly admit a fault committed in secret. However, one should justify himself in some other way, saying, for instance, "Those are only words, they don't prove anything. Whoever heard them may have been mistaken. Don't believe everything you hear." This way of speaking is far more acceptable than the first.II.That is how backbiting does its diabolical work. It changes costume so slickly, we can hardly recognize it. Malice is ingenious: It spots a beam where there is only a wisp of straw, an elephant where there is only a fly, a mountain high as the Alps where there is only a molehill. It turns dream into reality and taints the virtues of others so skilfully with its own colors that we mistake them for vices."