There is no doubt that the poor attain more easily than the rich the gift of humility; for the poor in their indigence become very familiar with meekness and, in contrast, the rich become habituated easily to arrogance. Notwithstanding, there is also no lack of rich people that are adorned with this humility and who in this manner use their riches in such a way so that they do not become proud, but instead use them for works of charity, considering that they find greater reward in alleviating the misery of others.

The gift of humility is given, then, to men of every kind and condition, provided they are the same in their desire to help - even those who, by their fortunes, are not equal. Nor does the inequality of earthly wealth matter so long as there is equality in spiritual riches.

Blessed then, is that poverty which is not captivated by the love for earthly goods, nor places its ambition in growing riches in this world, but desires instead the goods of Heaven.

After our Lord Himself, the Apostles were the first to give us an example of this most magnanimous poverty, since, upon hearing the voice of the Divine Master, leaving absolutely behind all things, in a moment they turned from being fishermen of fish to fishermen of men, and achieved having many others, imitating their faith, to follow the same path. In effect, many of the first children of the Church, when converting to the faith, having nothing more than one heart and one soul, left all their goods and their possessions and, embracing poverty, enriched themselves with eternal goods, and found their joy in following the teachings of the apostles, possessing nothing in this world and yet having it all, in Christ.

This is why the blessed apostle Peter, when going up into the Temple found himself with that criple begging for alms, he said: I do not have gold or silver; but I will give you what I do have: In the name of Jesus Mesiah, the Nazarene, walk. What more sublime thing could be found than this humility? What is richer than this poverty? It does not have the help of money, but it does possess the gifts of nature. To the one whose mother gave birth deformed, the word of Peter healed him. And the one who could not give the image of Ceasar imprinted on a coin to that man asking for alms, he gave him, instead, the image of Christ by restoring his health.

And this treasure enriched not only the one who recovered the ability to walk, but to also those five thousand men who, before this miraculous cure, believed in the preaching of Peter. In this way the poor apostle, who had nothing to give to the one who asked for alms, distributed so abundantly the grace of God, giving back to the beggar not only the vigor of his legs, but also the health of the souls of those thousands of believers, who Peter had found lacking strength and who now could walk, fortified and agile, following Christ.