Living Among the Poor

I read a lot. Yeah, we all know that. When I finish a book, I want to feel inspired to live a life more fully surrendered. That is almost solely why I read. I also love to learn. However, I don’t read to escape…I love my life and don’t feel a need to go somewhere else. So when I finish a book and I’m left with questions to ponder and felt an obvious encounter with God during the book, I consider it worth every minute I spent in it.

I just finished one such book titled The Prison Angel.

Mother Antonia left a wealthy lifestyle in Beverly Hills to live in La Mesa penitentiary in Tijuana, Mexico. She was twice divorced and had seven children. All her life she felt a pull to help the poor always feeling unsettled throughout both marriages, running the family business after the death of her father and raising all her children. Finally, when she had one child left in the house, she began to make her permanent move to Mexico even adjusting the life of her son to accommodate. She had to answer the call.

The book inspired me on so many levels. Mother Antonia was not blessed by the Catholic Church initially, but that didn’t stop her from sewing her own habit and going to serve God. She lived in a 10x10 cell and took cold showers just like the inmates. She truly lived among them and changed countless lives. They grew to love her and affectionately called her Madre.

One of her expressions was that in everything you do, you either add to the beauty of the world or take away from it. She is so right. I meditated on that this week. I have to make choices and each choice leads me to Him or away from Him. All true beauty comes from Him, so the closer I am to God, the more His beauty can shine through me.

So I began to reflect on several questions:

1. If my church did not support my call, would I still go?
2. Would I put my precious Jesus above even that of my boys? Would I adjust my life and theirs so I could take a step in obedience regardless of the sacrifice?
3. Could I truly live among the poor? How attached am I to my material stuff?
4. Am I adding to the beauty of the world?

I am duly inspired! And duly challenged!