(Merged Threads) What does "poor in spirit" mean?

  • Thread starter Thread starter caroljm36
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

caroljm36

Guest
The deacon said it means that no matter how much you have, you acknowledge that you really are “poor” inside and need God. Before, I read it in the more common sense of being downhearted, depressed etc. Later I looked in Vision by Mark Link and saw the same interpretation, then realized the deacon had used a couple Vision readings as his homily.

Is this reading correct? It seems counter-intuitive.
 
I think your Deacon is correct. Here is commentary on this verse from the Navarre Bible Commentary on Matthew:
  1. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah 2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God’s mercy to be saved.
    This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called
    “spiritual childhood”. A Christian sees himself as a little child in
    the presence of God, a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain people–religious–to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.
Click to expand...
 
I’ll throw in my two cents on how I understand “poor in spirit”. For me, I tend to think of the poverty mentioned as a physical poverty. In other words I think of the poor in spirit as those who are detached from material possessions and wealth. Not that one has to be destitute to be “poor in spirit”, but they must have to see their possessions as means to an end and not ends themselves (little gods that take us away from God).

The Gospels are replete with teachings such as “you cannot serve God and mammon”, “where your treasure is, there lies your heart”, “if you have two cloaks and your brother has none, give one of yours to him”, etc. My impression through all this is that we must always have our eyes, minds and hearts set on God, and thus not be worried about what we have or how to get more, or whatever. Only when we see the things we own as a way to God, and have our hearts and treasure in heaven can we be considered “poor in spirit”.
 
This was recently posted in another thread, and is a great explanation IMHO…

excerpt:

Note that He is talking about the “poor in spirit” here. In other words, those who are aware of their own smallness and emptiness. The poor in spirit are not those who beat themselves up, but those who frankly recognize how puny they are before the mysteries of the universe and the Creator of that universe. They don’t let their own accomplishments and abilities blind them to their mortality and vulnerability. They don’t fool themselves.

Jesus mentions elsewhere how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom because it is very easy for the successful to lose touch with their neediness and to actually believe the flattery of the fan club. Those who are not influential, educated, or wealthy have an easier time recognizing their need since it stares them in the face every place they turn. For this reason, the Church was full of such people in the New Testament era (1 Cor 1:26-31) just as it is today.

The poor of spirit are empty and so long to be filled. They hunger and thirst for the wholeness that is called holiness, for the food that truly satisfies.

The rich in spirit don’t hunger for anything. They are “full of themselves,” self-satisfied. When offered an opportunity to grow spiritually, they protest, “But I’m a good person and worship God in my own way,” or “I go to Mass every Sunday, isn’t that enough?” They are too busy for prayer and yawn when exposed to a spiritual discussion. They are too absorbed with themselves to be interested in God. They may be able to get excited about the Superbowl, but never about heaven.
 
Interesting! I learned a lot from this. What’s surprising to me is all the people I know who are of very modest circumstances and have no spiritual interests either. This includes my mother, who was always (self-described poor), and my very closest friends. They see nothing in faith for them, or their faith is very vague with lots of resentment toward religious people as assumed hypocrites. Whereas at church I am around a lot of medical professionals, teachers, lawyers, business people, some wealthy, and very little moral grandstanding if any at all.
 
ME: Words I associate with being poor: simplicity, wanting, needing, hungry, thankful, humility.

Being poor in spirit means having humility knowing that all you have is a gift. Thankful for what you have, savoring every bite of spiritual or physical food, and not resting on your laurels, satisfied with yourself or your accomplishments, because it can all be gone in the morning, after all.
 
awalt said:
This was recently posted in another thread, and is a great explanation IMHO…

excerpt:

Note that He is talking about the “poor in spirit” here. In other words, those who are aware of their own smallness and emptiness. The poor in spirit are not those who beat themselves up, but those who frankly recognize how puny they are before the mysteries of the universe and the Creator of that universe. They don’t let their own accomplishments and abilities blind them to their mortality and vulnerability. They don’t fool themselves.

Jesus mentions elsewhere how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom because it is very easy for the successful to lose touch with their neediness and to actually believe the flattery of the fan club. Those who are not influential, educated, or wealthy have an easier time recognizing their need since it stares them in the face every place they turn. For this reason, the Church was full of such people in the New Testament era (1 Cor 1:26-31) just as it is today.

The poor of spirit are empty and so long to be filled. They hunger and thirst for the wholeness that is called holiness, for the food that truly satisfies.

The rich in spirit don’t hunger for anything. They are “full of themselves,” self-satisfied. When offered an opportunity to grow spiritually, they protest, “But I’m a good person and worship God in my own way,” or “I go to Mass every Sunday, isn’t that enough?” They are too busy for prayer and yawn when exposed to a spiritual discussion. They are too absorbed with themselves to be interested in God. They may be able to get excited about the Superbowl, but never about heaven.
Click to expand...

WOW, LOVE THIS…I THOUGHT THE EXPLANATION I WAS GOING TO LEAVE WAS GOOD…BUT THIS IS WONDERFUL AND SO THOROUGH. I AM BLESSED AND HUMBLED BY IT.
 
40.png
caroljm36:
The deacon said it means that no matter how much you have, you acknowledge that you really are “poor” inside and need God. Before, I read it in the more common sense of being downhearted, depressed etc. Later I looked in Vision by Mark Link and saw the same interpretation, then realized the deacon had used a couple Vision readings as his homily.

Is this reading correct? It seems counter-intuitive.
Click to expand...
I attended several Masses this past weekend due to searching for a parish in the city I moved to.

One priest used the first Beatitude and tried to place it in historical context. He said, during the time of Jesus, the ones who were considered “poor in spirit” would be people like widows and orphans. They are the ones who, in many cases, had noone to turn to and had to put their complete trust in God.

There was another one who tried to expand on the briefness of the passage by alson using historical and accounting for loss of meaning in translating the passage. I did not catch too much of it since I was trying determine the best time to make a descrete exit (the parish made me very nervous for some reason).

PF
 
Yeah, that’s a kind of “vague” statement. Like, it means something, but what???

What I have to offer is essentially the same as what everybody else has said.

St. Francis de Sales (17th Century Doctor of the Church) says in his “Introduction to the Devout Life”

“Woe then to those who are rich in spirit, for their portion will be hell. He is rich in spirit whose heart is in his riches, and whose riches fill his heart… if you possess them, preserve your heart from loving them… Do not, then, complain of your poverty (if indeed you are poor), for we complain only of that which displeases us; and if poverty displeases you, you are no longer poor in spirit, for your heart would fain be otherwise.”

Those were just excerpts. But as you can see, his main point was that being poor in spirit is the opposite of having our treasures in our wordly possessions. Our heart should be open continually to heaven, and impenetrable to riches and earthly things.
 
I completely forgot about this thread :o Anyhow, I had an interesting thought about this the other day. In the parallel account, Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, the words are “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (6:20).

I guess one might say that Luke gives the face-value meaning of Christ’s words, while they are put into a spiritual context in Matthew. I think it does shed a little light on the meaning of “poor in spirit”, one that I agree with, and one that is related brilliantly in those quotes from St. Francis that Rob posted above.
 
Another interesting observation. Has anyone else noticed (in both Matt. and Luke), that the present tense is used for poor/poor in spirit: “yours **is **the kingdom…” The tense then changes to “they shall…”. Finally, for those persecuted for Jesus’s sake the tense shifts back to the present, “yours is the kindom…”.

What do you think the significance is for the tense change? I’d like to hear some opinions as I’ve really been only thinking about it for a short while.
 
Hello,

This has been a source of confusion for me since I was very young, and I’d love to hear people’s interpretations of this.

Matt. 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What exactly does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”
 
seakelp said:
Hello,

This has been a source of confusion for me since I was very young, and I’d love to hear people’s interpretations of this.

Matt. 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What exactly does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”
Click to expand...
My pastor told me that ‘poor in spirit’ was a reference to people who realized that they were dependent on God for their very existence…probably almost as countercultural then as it is now.
 
awalt said:
This was recently posted in another thread, and is a great explanation IMHO…

excerpt:

Note that He is talking about the “poor in spirit” here. In other words, those who are aware of their own smallness and emptiness. The poor in spirit are not those who beat themselves up, but those who frankly recognize how puny they are before the mysteries of the universe and the Creator of that universe. They don’t let their own accomplishments and abilities blind them to their mortality and vulnerability. They don’t fool themselves.

Jesus mentions elsewhere how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom because it is very easy for the successful to lose touch with their neediness and to actually believe the flattery of the fan club. Those who are not influential, educated, or wealthy have an easier time recognizing their need since it stares them in the face every place they turn. For this reason, the Church was full of such people in the New Testament era (1 Cor 1:26-31) just as it is today.

The poor of spirit are empty and so long to be filled. They hunger and thirst for the wholeness that is called holiness, for the food that truly satisfies.

The rich in spirit don’t hunger for anything. They are “full of themselves,” self-satisfied. When offered an opportunity to grow spiritually, they protest, “But I’m a good person and worship God in my own way,” or “I go to Mass every Sunday, isn’t that enough?” They are too busy for prayer and yawn when exposed to a spiritual discussion. They are too absorbed with themselves to be interested in God. They may be able to get excited about the Superbowl, but never about heaven.
Click to expand...
I found this on another thread. This may help to explain a bit for you 🙂
 
Re: Beatitudes–what does “poor in spirit” mean?
This was recently posted in another thread, and is a great explanation IMHO…

excerpt:

Note that He is talking about the “poor in spirit” here. In other words, those who are aware of their own smallness and emptiness. The poor in spirit are not those who beat themselves up, but those who frankly recognize how puny they are before the mysteries of the universe and the Creator of that universe. They don’t let their own accomplishments and abilities blind them to their mortality and vulnerability. They don’t fool themselves.

Jesus mentions elsewhere how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom because it is very easy for the successful to lose touch with their neediness and to actually believe the flattery of the fan club. Those who are not influential, educated, or wealthy have an easier time recognizing their need since it stares them in the face every place they turn. For this reason, the Church was full of such people in the New Testament era (1 Cor 1:26-31) just as it is today.

The poor of spirit are empty and so long to be filled. They hunger and thirst for the wholeness that is called holiness, for the food that truly satisfies.

The rich in spirit don’t hunger for anything. They are “full of themselves,” self-satisfied. When offered an opportunity to grow spiritually, they protest, “But I’m a good person and worship God in my own way,” or “I go to Mass every Sunday, isn’t that enough?” They are too busy for prayer and yawn when exposed to a spiritual discussion. They are too absorbed with themselves to be interested in God. They may be able to get excited about the Superbowl, but never about heaven.

Found this on another thread and thought it might answer your question. It was originally posted by awalt and they said it best.
 
seakelp said:
Hello,

This has been a source of confusion for me since I was very young, and I’d love to hear people’s interpretations of this.

Matt. 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What exactly does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”
Click to expand...
The poor in spirit are those individuals who recognize they are lacking God’s grace and so turn to God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Once they are filled with the Holy spirit they are able to mourn for their sins, be meek, hungry for righteousness, be merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and suffer for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:4-10).

Notice how the first beatitude begins with the reward of the kingdom of heaven and ends with the same reward. That’s the goal, the other promises are just the rewards along the way.
 
Augustine3 said:
The poor in spirit are those individuals who recognize they are lacking God’s grace and so turn to God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Once they are filled with the Holy spirit they are able to mourn for their sins, be meek, hungry for righteousness, be merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and suffer for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:4-10).

Notice how the first beatitude begins with the reward of the kingdom of heaven and ends with the same reward. That’s the goal, the other promises are just the rewards along the way.
Click to expand...
Wow - wonderful observation!

(Also, I just realized that there was another EXACT same thread made ten minutes before mine - mea culpa for not simply looking for answers there!)
 
jlw said:
ME: Words I associate with being poor: simplicity, wanting, needing, hungry, thankful, humility.

Being poor in spirit means having humility knowing that all you have is a gift. Thankful for what you have, savoring every bite of spiritual or physical food, and not resting on your laurels, satisfied with yourself or your accomplishments, because it can all be gone in the morning, after all.
Click to expand...
Yes …I think its those who are ‘humble’ (poor in pride) ! Can apply to either those materially poor, or wealthy …like Job & Abraham …both who were prized by God for their faith & righteous spirits.
 
I read a book on the Gospels where it explains this as being in the context of the early Jewish Christians being “put down” by the Pharisees in Jerusalem. Assuming the Pharisees being “rich in Spirit” at least in appearance and attitude. And the new Christians remaining visibly “poor in Spirit” but attempting to be “rich in Spirit” internally. This is from the Gospel of Matthew. In Lukes Gospel it just says “Blessed are the poor.” With the thinking that Luke’s constituents were rural and poor and it would resonate with them “as is”.

The book claims that Matthew may have had a ghost writer(s) referred to as “Q” and “M” from the the city (Jerusalem) based on their vocabulary and geographical knowledge (or lack thereof) and references of the writer. They made very elaborate descriptions of Jerusalem and Jerusalem life but didn’t seem to be able to describe Galilee very well or rural life.

It was writen by a Catholic Priest in 2008…

Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. “The Gospels Simply Explained”

“He’s the Director of Evangelization Apostolate of the Companions of Saint Anthony located in Ellicott City, Maryland and has published numerous books and articles…”
 
I read a book on the Gospels where it explains this as being in the context of the early Jewish Christians being “put down” by the Pharisees in Jerusalem. Assuming the Pharisees being “rich in Spirit” at least in appearance and attitude. And the new Christians remaining visibly “poor in Spirit” but attempting to be “rich in Spirit” internally. This is from the Gospel of Matthew. In Lukes Gospel it just says “Blessed are the poor.” With the thinking that Luke’s constituents were rural and poor and it would resonate with them “as is”.

The book claims that Matthew may have had a ghost writer(s) referred to as “Q” and “M” from the the city (Jerusalem) based on their vocabulary and geographical knowledge (or lack thereof) and references of the writer. They made very elaborate descriptions of Jerusalem and Jerusalem life but didn’t seem to be able to describe Galilee very well or rural life.

It was writen by a Catholic Priest in 2008…

Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv. “The Gospels Simply Explained”

“He’s the Director of Evangelization Apostolate of the Companions of Saint Anthony located in Ellicott City, Maryland and has published numerous books and articles…”

I got it “off the shelf” at my Church so I have no pre-conceived notions regarding it or the author one way or the other… for what it’s worth…
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top