St. Francis of Assisi followed the poor and humble Christ. He became a friend of the lepers and learned the meaning of poverty by staying among them. Minority, that is, being in close relationship to the material and spiritual poverty of other persons as well as the poverty within ourselves, is a hallmark of Franciscan life and spirituality. Brother Paul, a founder of Capuchin Mobile Ministries and a veteran of the Catholic Worker movement, recently shared with his brothers his understanding of poverty gained through personal experience in community with the poor.

Brother Paul invites us to take stock, to go back to our existential roots, strip ourselves, and return to the base of that ontological poverty that St. Francis of Assisi knew was our true nature.

"If we can go back to that idea that when we come out of the womb we are helpless and we can’t do it, and if we understand that, then we can let people in and we can let God in," he says. "And when that process happens, hopefully healthily, then we can grow both ontologically as the persons God made us to be, and communally, whether in our religious communities or our families."

We present Brother Paul's talk in the video below. Click here for an essay version of his talk.