No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God””for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit, there can be no abundance of God.
–Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Although I understand the sentiment exactly, this statement from Abp Romero has always left me with several questions. A couple of answers came from reading more excerpts, available on the web in an free download of translated excerpts by the same Jesuit who provided the first book, “The Church Is All of You” (Winston Press), pulled together and translated by James Brockman. This latest pdf publication put up just this year is available at http://www.plough.com/ebooks/violenceoflove.html .
There you will also find a link to a pdf download of the original spanish language excerpts. I was looking for the spanish original of the first sentence of the quote, since that held a big question for me of +Romero’s meaning (which the spanish does provide a better understanding for me). Here is the blogged quote in spanish:
“Nadie podrá celebrar la Navidad auténtica si no es pobre de verdad. Los autosuficientes, los orgullosos, los que desprecian a los demás porque todo lo tienen, los que no necesitan ni de Dios, para ésos no habrá Navidad.
Sólo los pobres, los hambrientos, los que tienen necesidad de que alguien venga por ellos, tendrán a ese alguien, y ese alguien es Dios, Emanuel, Dios-con-nosotros. Sin pobreza de espÃritu no puede haber llenura de Dios.”