Quote for the week: “Anyone who piously and earnestly ponders the Sermon on the Mount — as we read in the Gospel according to Mathew — I believe he will find therein… the perfect standard of the Christian Life.” – St. Augustine
Thought for the week: What makes you happy? In the Beatitudes, Jesus turns the common notions of blessing and happiness upside down. What makes us truly happy is to be holy and the Beatitudes point us to that. As Pope Francis reminds us, “The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card. So if anyone asks: ‘What must one do to be a good Christian?’ the answer is clear.“
Prayer: Jesus, help me be like you in all things. I want to be holy but so often I choose things that will never bring me true satisfaction. Jesus, I love you. Help me to be meek, poor in spirit, a peacemaker, and never allow me to be discouraged in the face of trial. Amen
Watch and Respond- Join in the conversation: What do you think it means to be poor in spirit?
Thank you, Andy.
To be poor in spirit for me, means that we don’t trust enough in Our Lord to help us through out problems. We need to pray and put our full trust in God. He will answer our prayers in His own way and time. Trust in the Lord, for He is good, and His love is everlasting!!!
Thanks for this!
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” -a true consolation for the meek and lowly.
It seems one cannot both encounter Jesus and choose to respond in faith to His love, and also continue on in the spirit of Satan -pride- to idolize the self and worship idols. When one chooses to let go of idols and cling to the Body of Christ (which includes the head, Jesus), then one is poor in Spirit. The proof of that poverty is a lack of desire for, or actually a repulsion towards, wealth of any sort other than spiritual wealth. When one’s heart is set on spiritual wealth, then the person can be trusted to know what to correctly do with other types of wealth -take care of the needs of others.
There is a difference between a need and a want. For instance, I still want to raise and train horses, but that is no longer perceived by me as a need. So I pass it by. Jesus has led me to be a poor city girl.
I think it is important to reflect on these things and see where we are at various times in our spiritual walks, because at times like these we can begin to understand what St. Paul may have been experiencing in part when he said he is happy both when he has much and when he has little. Being holy occurs as a process.
God bless you all!