The human heart tends to seek inordinately the goods of the earth: If there is no positive struggle to walk detached from things, it can be affirmed that man, more or less consciously, has put his end here below. And the Christian must never forget that he is walking towards God.
For this reason, he must examine himself frequently, asking himself whether he loves the virtue of poverty and lives it; whether he is attentive so as not to fall into comfort or a gentrification that is incompatible with being a disciple of Christ; whether he is detached from the things of the earth; whether he has them, finally, as means to do good and to live ever closer to God. For "in the course of history, the use of temporal goods has been marred with grave defects.... Even in our own day, not a few... fall into a kind of idolatry of material goods, becoming servants rather than masters of them "15.
We can and should always be frugal in our personal needs, curbing superfluous expenses, not giving in to whims, watching out for the tendency to create false needs, being generous in almsgiving, or in helping good works. For the same reason, we must take care with care of the things of our home, as well as all kinds of goods that, in reality, we have only as in deposit in order to administer them well. "Poverty is in being truly detached from earthly things; in bearing with joy the discomforts, if there are any, or the lack of means (...)
To live thinking of others, to use things in such a way that there is something to offer to others: all these are dimensions of poverty that guarantee effective detachment.
In this and other different ways, our desire not to have our heart set on riches will be manifested; also when, for reasons of profession or office, we have other goods at our disposal for our personal use. The sobriety of which we then give proof will be the good aroma of Christ, which must always accompany the life of a Christian.
Addressing men and women who strive to attain holiness in the midst of the world-merchants, professors, farmers, office workers, fathers and mothers of families-St. Josemaría Escrivá said: "Every ordinary Christian has to make compatible in his life two aspects that at first sight might seem contradictory. Real poverty, which can be seen and touched, made of concrete things, which is a profession of faith in God, a manifestation that the heart is not satisfied with created things, but that it aspires to the Creator, that it desires to be filled with God's love, and then to give that same love to everyone.
And, at the same time, to be one more among his brothers and sisters, men and women, in whose life he participates, with whom he rejoices, with whom he collaborates, loving the world, using all created things to solve the problems of human life, and to establish the spiritual and material environment that facilitates the development of persons and communities.
"Achieving the synthesis between these two aspects is - to a great extent - a personal matter, a matter of interior life, to judge in each moment, to find in each case what God does not ask for "17.
If we struggle effectively to live detached from what we have and use, the Lord will find our hearts clean and wide open when he comes to us again on Christmas Eve. What happened to that inn will not happen to our soul: it was full and there was no room for the Lord.
Hablar con Dios