Devotion for today: to become poor in spirit, we must become humble

The Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
That others may be esteemed more than I ,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/litany-of-humility.html

Devotion for today: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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.

Devotion for today: the Desire for Happiness

Remember that when you read Scripture, God wanted it written for you. Every word is meant for you. Rereading the Beatitudes for several days, and meditating on their meaning for you, will help you grow in the way of the Lord. Since they add the element of living as Christ lived, they take the Decalogue even further, and give us cause to become people who don’t just follow the law, but go further into living a pure life out of love for God.

Scripture for meditation: Matthew 5: 3-12

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: II. THE DESIRE FOR HAPPINESS

1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it…

  1719 The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith.

1723 The beatitude we are promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love…

1724 The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God.

St. Augustine tells us: “Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved You. You have called to me, and have called out, and have shattered my deafness. You have blazed forth with light and have put my blindness to flight! You have sent forth fragrance, and I have drawn in my breath, and I pant after you. I have tasted you, and I hunger and thirst after you. You have touched me, and I have burned for your peace.” -Confessions, Chapter 1.

My thoughts: The Hebrew word for “Blessed” is ashrey – which also translates as “happy”: experiencing a deep satisfaction. When was the last time we attributed our happiness to the blessedness bestowed upon us by God? That is what the Beatitudes do for us. Jesus gave us a way to enter the happiness of His life in the Father. He gave us a way to put aside earthly delights and frivolities and concentrate on the only happiness that lasts forever: the life that awaits us in the Kingdom of heaven. When we study the Beatitudes, may our hearts burst forth with the love St. Augustine discovered when he opened his heart to God. Only by lives lived in accord with the Commandments, and then fulfilled in the way of the Beatitudes, will we ever find a love so pure, so holy, and so innocent, that we will “burn for the peace of God.” No earthly pleasure, separated from God’s way, can ever come to good. To be “blessed” we must reach beyond ourselves to total love for God. Everything we do then becomes an act of love for God, not a score card for entrance into heaven. “I have tasted You, and I hunger and thirst after You.” May those words be our motto for life.

Prayer: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth, will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0jpHtsSEQo&feature=fvwrel)