Blessed are poor in spirit

[lwilday]

I’ve heard about the Beatitudes for years, but only recently really tried to understand them better. Please give me some insight on the first one…“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit?

 

[TimothyH]

The beatitudes are a series, each one building on the other. Beatitude means blessedness, or happiness, and the beatitudes are a path to happiness, starting with being poor in spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

When we first come to God, we are poor in spirit. We become aware of our own smallness and insignificance in comparison to God, and we become aware of who we are in relation to God - God is the creator of the universe and we are dust whom God holds in existence and breathes life into. Poor in spirit can be thought of as humility - not humiliation - but a right ordering of where we belong in creation and who we are in relation to God. Humility - poor in spirit - is the first step toward happiness and one of the foundational virtues. Knowing your order and place in creation is the first step and you can’t go far in the spiritual life if you are filled with pride.

***Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. *(Matthew 5:4)

Once we reach a state of humility, we will look at our behavior honestly, and see ourselves for what we really are. A humble person who honestly evaluates his sin will mourn for what he has done to offend God.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. (Matthew 5:5)

The word “Meek” has negative connotations today. We think of the meek as sheepish, as victims, unable or unwilling to defend themselves. But in the Bible, one who is meek is one who is teachable. In spite of what we see in the movies and with all due respect to Charlton Heston, Moses was meek. Moses was teachable. When we reach a state where we mourn for how we have offended God, we become open to correction. We become teachable. We become pliable in God’s hands, and he can begin to shape us into what he wants us to be.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

This is my favorite. I know a man who is at this stage right now. He is teachable, and has responded positively to some of the little things God has shown him, has begun to do as God is teaching him, and God has rewarded him with a taste of what heaven is like. Now he hungers and thirst for righteousness, and God walks with him constantly, as if he is right beside him at all times, helping him through all of his troubles and struggles. This is a fun place to be.

***Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. *(Matthew 5:7)

Those who hunger for righteousness, having responded to God’s teaching and tasted God’s presence, will begin to “do unto other’s as you would have done unto you.” These are beginning to live a life of charity, a life of love toward their fellow man.

***Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. *(Matthew 5:8)

Here we begin to live a pure life, putting away sin to the point that not only do we not commit sin, but we do not desire to commit sin. Sin becomes abhorrent to us, and at later stages, even the memory of our past sins fade. We are now starting to live a life of purity, and here God is taking away our natural inclination to sin. Here Christ is living in us (like he lived inside Mary ) and working through us, and we are becoming conformed to Christ.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Those who have progressed to this point shine the light of Christ into other’s lives, to the point where they bring peace to those they meet. These are people of great joy, who live the life of Christ and bring peace whenever and wherever they can.

And it is here where we can expect…

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

My Godfather was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He used to say, “You know you are over the target when they start shooting at you.” Heaven is not far off here. Not everyone gets to this place. Not everyone is called to be a martyr.

-Tim-

 

[laircy]

I heard someone on the radio talking about this last week
He said that being poor in spirit means recognizing that without God, you are nothing. That was the gist of it, and sadly I cannot remember what else he said. I hope someone comes along with more to say…

Aha I see Timothy got it.

 

[dailey]

I’ve heard about the Beatitudes for years, but only recently really tried to understand them better. Please give me some insight on the first one…“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit?

Good question! I will enjoy reading the responses.

 

[stewstew03]

TimothH had a good response (above) and the short answer is that being “poor in spirit” means being humble - relying not upon the things of this world but upon God alone to fill your spiritual bank account…

 

[Crumpy]

At the EWTN “family celebration” that took place a few years back at Northern Illinois University, Marcus Grodi gave a tremendous explanation of the beatitudes, the most analytical that I have ever heard. That, in turn, was based on some writings from the time of the early church.

He explained each one and how they are arranged in a logical order. But, that is not to say that the beatitudes operate sequentially – stages of spiritual development, for example.
On the contrary, he explains how they apply to our lives, in parallel.

I think that one presentation alone justifies getting the DVD from EWTN, but that’s my opinion.

I haven’t reviewed his talk in more than a year. From memory, his take on it is that poor in spirit means that we base our whole life as dependent on God. We are casting off or already have cast off a visceral attachment to “things” of this world. We need them, but they don’t possess us.

This talk is not on youtube. I haven’t checked his website, lately, to see if it has been posted there, either chnetwork.com or .org.

If I can put my hands on my DVD, I’ll try to refresh my memory and update this.

 

[jochoa]

I’ve heard about the Beatitudes for years, but only recently really tried to understand them better. Please give me some insight on the first one…“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit?

Here is an additional interpretation which suggests growth in oneness with the Holy Spirit:

1. When one is out of peace with worldly factors, s/he opens themselves to the opportunity to find God.
2. When one is out of happiness with worldly factors, s/he opens themselves to the opportunity to find God.
3. When one is fully* obedient with worldly authorities, s/he are being patient and kind for others, and therefore are closer to God.
4. When one is optimistically** trying to understand God’s Word, s/he will find wisdom.
5. When one has wisdom of the Word, s/he will become completely forgiving of others through the recognition and reconciliation of all personal wrongdoings towards others and especially God.
6. When one understands to listen more attentively to the body’s feelings, s/he will work on purifying the body to a state of complete patience, peace, kindness, happiness, motivation for God, and energy.
7. When one’s body has been purified to a state of great love, s/he will focus intensely on spreading the means to achieve the greatest peace, happiness, energy, and wisdom possible…
8. When one is spreading the Word intensely, from a lack of perfect patience, kindness, motivation, and knowledge, they become subject to punishment in the name of righteousness.

*fully - being unable to determine whether an order from an authority is righteous or not, and proceeding to be obedient for the sake of obedience.
**optimistically - in specific, using various perspectives to validate the Word.

Thoughts?

 

[trogiah]

willapabay.org/~ljcarney/sthelen.htm

Here are some thoughts on the meaning of the first two beatitudes.

 

[fhansen]

I’ve heard about the Beatitudes for years, but only recently really tried to understand them better. Please give me some insight on the first one…“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Who are the poor in spirit?

Those who are truly humble. People with purer hearts, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, can be emotional victims of a world that often tends to value shrewdness and ruthlessness-and steamroll over anything else. But God exalts the humble and opposes the proud.

**18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”** 1 Cor 1:18-31