Eleventh video- meditation:“The Heart of the Usurer. Selfishness impoverishes man, reducing him the mere dimension of having. Generosity makes him free and rich in spirit.”

Let us listen

“At a funeral of a very rich man St . Anthony cried out that the deceased should not be buried in consecrated ground because his body had no heart.

Finally a surgeon opened the chest of the man’s body, but he could not find a heart.

Rather, just as the Saint had foretold, the man’s heart was found in the strong box where he had stored his money .”

(From The Book on St . Anthony’s Miracles)

 

Let us meditate

Strange to say, I truly own something to the extent that I am willing to donate it. When I try in every way to keep an asset for myself I deceive myself that it is my possession, but in reality I depend on it because I have to continually invest energy to preserve and defend it. 

Let us pray

Lord, by giving your life out of love you have shown us the way to give meaning to our existence: you have given yourself totally to the Father and to us . Let us learn from you, make us passionate with your example and fill us with the grace of your Holy Spirit .

Let us reflect

• How do I live my relationship with material goods, especially with money? Are they means or ends?
• In my life, what am I not willing to lose? What obstacles does this place on my spiritual growth?
• When did I experience the liberating experience expressed by the adage “There is more joy in giving than in receiving”?

Prayer to St. Anthony