Poor Jesuit, Rich Jesus

From a Jesuit in formation named Emilio Travieso.

An excerpt.

My Jesuit community is located in one of Santo Domingo’s poorest neighborhoods, because we’ve opted to live among and in close relationship to the poor, inspired by Jesus’ example. For all our authentic solidarity, though, everybody knows that the “padres” live quite well compared to the poorest people in the neighborhood.

In contemplating the Incarnation recently, I was surprised to notice that Jesus was also relatively rich among the poor for a good part of his life. We always emphasize that he was born in a manger, but it’s more significant that Jesus grew up in a loving two-parent home. Joseph had a trade by which he earned an income for the family, and he surely served as a healthy role model for Jesus. Jesus also knew how to read, and belonged to a tight-knit community. Compared to lots of people living in situations of extreme poverty, family dysfunction, and social exclusion, Jesus was pretty privileged.

Link to the full blog post entitled Conditions for Kenosis at the blog called This Ignatian Life.