Today we begin to look
at the meaning of each of the beatitudes.
Scripture for
meditation: Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Scripture for
reflection: Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Scripture for
reflection: Philippians 2:5-7
In your relationships with one another, have the same
mindset as Christ Jesus: Who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself
nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church tells us: 716
The People of the "poor" - those who, humble and meek, rely
solely on their God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but
of the Messiah - are in the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's
hidden mission during the time of the promises that prepare for Christ's
coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit,
which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready
"a people prepared for the Lord."
St. Thomas Aquinas
tells us: Just as the orderly assembly of virtues is, by reason of a
certain likeness, compared to a building, so again that which is the first step
in the acquisition of virtue is likened to the foundation, which is first laid before the rest of the
building. Now the virtues are in truth infused by God.
Wherefore the first step in the acquisition of virtue may be understood
in two ways. First by way of removing obstacles: and thus humility holds the first
place, inasmuch as it expels pride, which "God resists," and
makes man submissive and ever open to receive the influx of Divine grace. Hence it is
written (James 4:6):
"God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble." On this
sense humility is said to be the foundation of the spiritual edifice. The
reason why Christ chiefly proposed humility to us, was because it especially removes the obstacle to man's spiritual welfare
consisting in man's aiming at heavenly and spiritual things, in which he is hindered by striving to become great in earthly things.
Hence Our Lord,
in order to remove an obstacle to our spiritual welfare, showed
by giving an example of humility,
that outward exaltation is to be despised. Thus humility is, as it were, a
disposition to man's untrammeled access to spiritual and divine goods. (Summa Theologica, Article 5. Whether humility is the
greatest of the virtues?)
My thoughts: In
a recent Bible study I attended, Jeff Cavins told us that to be happy is to
become like Christ. He went on to explain that to be like Christ, then, we must
be humble, since, as we learned above, there is no virtue without humility. The
poor in spirit are those who have given an honest assessment of themselves, he
said, and emptied themselves of pride, admitted their weaknesses, and
recognized that they cannot attain what they were created for without the help
of God. The poor in spirit own nothing of themselves for themselves; they give
away every part of their being to God. As we already know, pride is the root of
every sin. Those who are poor in spirit are promised the kingdom of heaven
because they won’t choose to sin. Instead, they empty themselves to make room
for Christ. This is the first of the beatitudes for a reason: we cannot aspire
to the others unless we give up our pride, live humbly and be poor in spirit,
thus filled with Christ.
Prayer: A Humble
Prayer
O Lord, I am not worthy, that You should enter under my
roof. But only say the words, and my soul will be healed.
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