The current economic crisis brings into focus why the commitment to live a life of poverty is so needed today.

During the campaign season, $200,000 was frequently mentioned as the upper range of middle class. Yet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in the United States in 2007 was $50,740. In the state of Kentucky where I live, it was $40,299, but in our Kentucky missions it is just over $24,000. AIG bonuses of over $1 million brings outrage, but hiring the new college basketball coach for the University of Kentucky at $31.65 million over eight years brings front-page headlines of praise.

This is but a snap shot of the economic chaos and chaotic thinking in the United States. There is just simply confusion about money, spending money and the value of money. In this environment, Glenmarians and other religious profess a life of poverty or simplicity. All the evangelical councils (obedience and chastity being the other two) serve as a billboard inviting people, especially fellow Christians, to pause and reflect. What really matters? Who truly is the Lord of our life? Is it “In God we trust” or “In Money we trust?” Where does security come from? Is it in having lots of stuff or having salvation in Christ?

The voluntary choosing of poverty reminds us of the words Jesus gave to the rich young man, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.” Our collective response is often the same, “he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” (Mt 19:21-22 RVS). One does not choose religious poverty because being poor is good. One chooses it to say spiritual gain is more important than material gain. The pursuit of God leads to greater happiness than the pursuit of goods. Lasting peace and security are achieved by having faith, not by having wealth.

Our vow or promise of poverty does not mean we live like the poor of the world who make less than a dollar a day. That type of poverty needs to end. Obviously, meeting basic needs—a home, food, and clothing—is necessary. It is also important to have health and an education. As Christians we are called to achieve this for ourselves, our family, and all other people. Our responsibility to the common good goes beyond our own needs and those of our family; it is for all God’s children in every corner of the globe. So, when those in religious life commit to a life of poverty it is to help remind people that money, profit, and economic systems are not our masters. We serve the same master of all, God the all powerful and all good.

By living a life of poverty, we who serve in some of the poorer areas of the United States have a little more credibility when we call for justice in wages, housing, and healthcare and our way of life may influence those in power to change things. Those in power see we are not seeking any profit or gain for ourselves, but are working for those in need of a voice.

In 2007 13% of the population of the United States lived below the national poverty level. In Eastern Kentucky’s Carter County in 2005 20% lived in poverty; in Elliot County it was 28% and in Lewis County it was 29%. This means that more than one out of four in these areas are in deep crisis. The current economic crisis has not helped matters. A factory 20 miles away from where I live in Carter County has closed and 800 jobs have been lost. Employees at the meat factory in town have been laid off. They hope they will be called back in the near future. These are people who have little, if anything, in savings. They are not invested in Wall Street. They are just trying to hang in there and hang on to their rental homes or mobile homes.

Because we as missioners know them personally and work among them, ministering out of our oath to poverty, we aim to be a voice of justice for them. Sometimes folks listen and sometimes they don’t, but we are here none-the-less, saying, “Wake up and pay attention! These people count too!”

All of this is done in trust of God and not in money.

Father John Rausch, a Glenmary priest living in Stanton, Ky., writes a syndicated column on the current economics. His column appears in a number of diocesan papers.