The 17th Step on St. John’s Ladder is POVERTY. St. John prefaces remarks about this step by writing: “The man who has tasted the things of heaven daily thinks nothing of what is below, but he who has had no taste of heaven finds pleasure in possessions.

In speaking about the 16th Step, John suggested that love remedies AVARICE. But love is a word Christians throw around a great deal. We hear people say, “Love is all that matters,” or something to that effect. But rarely do we consider that love is not that easy. Love is the final step of the Ladder, not the first. In fact, all the steps on John’s Ladder are geared to help a person reach the final Step which is Faith, Hope and Love.

One could say the whole batter of Christian life is to acquire divine love. This is why St. John follows his step on the passion of avarice (the fruit of selfishness) with a step on the virtue of poverty – the fruit of self-denying love. It may seem strange to people that poverty is reckoned a virtue. We are inclined to think of poverty as nothing more than not having enough to get by. But here John is speaking of voluntary poverty.

What John suggests is that we discipline ourselves through practices of self-denial to overcome such passions as gluttony and avarice. Then we will discover that we have much more to give to others than we thought. Many may think the principle of charity is that the more we have, the more we can give. John points out, having much does not necessarily mean we will give much. The principle of Christian charity is not the more we have, the more we give. Rather, the less we need, the more we give. This is the meaning of poverty as a virtue. It is resignation from care…life without anxiety. This is a very important point and one that we should attempt to reflect upon.