SINGLE-MINDEDNESS OF SIMPLICITY

     For believers, authentic Christian simplicity finds its source and inspiration in God. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, people are called to a generous, wholehearted, and integral response toward God who has first loved us wholeheartedly, and toward others out of love for, and in imitation of, this same God. Jesus reaffirms the absolute priority of God and God’s kingdom over all other concerns, thus proclaiming a radically simplified vision of life’s purpose, often hidden from the rich and learned yet open especially to the simple and lowly. . . . Everything is reprioritized around the coming of the reign of God. At the same time, “inner simplicity” means little without some practical outward manifestation; recent movements for social justice and ecological responsibility have reminded us that the cultivation of a simple lifestyle is no merely private spiritual exercise to increase personal holiness but a necessary component of responsible Christian stewardship for God’s creation.  

Reference: Steven Payne, “Simplicity” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, 888-889. 

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