Poor in Spirit

[Soutane]

How do we Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians alike become poor in Spirit?

 

[The_Fool]

Well, the Catechism says 2546 “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs:
The Word speaks of voluntary humility as “poverty in spirit”; the Apostle gives an example of God’s poverty when he says: “For your sakes he became poor.”
2547 The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. “Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow. Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God.

So I guess that means if we were all voluntarily humble then we would all be poor in spirit alike. Anybody have other ideas, or did I not get the question? Or is it asking us to be poor or like the poor in not finding consolation in abundance of goods? Someone with a better answer say something.

 

[Soutane]

Well, the Catechism says 2546 “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs:
The Word speaks of voluntary humility as “poverty in spirit”; the Apostle gives an example of God’s poverty when he says: “For your sakes he became poor.”
2547 The Lord grieves over the rich, because they find their consolation in the abundance of goods. “Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow. Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God.

So I guess that means if we were all voluntarily humble then we would all be poor in spirit alike. Anybody have other ideas, or did I not get the question? Or is it asking us to be poor or like the poor in not finding consolation in abundance of goods? Someone with a better answer say something.

Sounds good to me:thumbsup:Any other suggestions?

 

[NDfan]

Sounds good to me:thumbsup:Any other suggestions?

The Greek word for poor that is used in the Gospels in the Beatitudes is ptochos. It’s used in both Matthew and Luke and literally means to crouch or cower as one helpless. Someone that is reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms etc. Someone totally dependent on others for help and destitute of even the necessities of life. It gets translated as beggarly in Galatians 4:9 but is still the same Greek word.

So as far as the Gospels are concerned both Matthew and Luke are saying the same thing. In both cases they are rewarded the Kingdom of Heaven / GOD. Heaven in Matthew and GOD in Luke. The poor / poor in spirit typically represented those that gave wholly of their lives to Christ as they had nothing else. In turn Christ tells them their reward is the riches of Heaven. We see this with the poor woman giving her last coins and Christ immediately saying she gave more than anyone else because she gave all she had. Christ also tells the rich young man to sell everything to be a follower of HIM. What happened? The young man walked off in despair confirming the point Christ made which is the reward of Heaven is difficult for the Rich. So it makes complete sense that poor / poor in spirit is saying the same thing and refers to the same condition. That of having almost or literally nothing being reduced to begging.

So now back to your question of how do we Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians alike become poor in Spirit? The plain truth is to become poor in spirit would mean losing everything you have being reduced to a “beggarly”, if you will, person. Some Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians are already there as we see in the villages of Nairobi. They are as poor as they come but they are followers of Christ. Theirs is the Kingdom of GOD. The most important thing is if one becomes poor / poor in spirit they must never give up on Christ. Usually when a person is poor or poor in spirit all they have is their faith.

PEACE

 

[Soutane]

The Greek word for poor that is used in the Gospels in the Beatitudes is ptochos. It’s used in both Matthew and Luke and literally means to crouch or cower as one helpless. Someone that is reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms etc. Someone totally dependent on others for help and destitute of even the necessities of life. It gets translated as beggarly in Galatians 4:9 but is still the same Greek word.

So as far as the Gospels are concerned both Matthew and Luke are saying the same thing. In both cases they are rewarded the Kingdom of Heaven / GOD. Heaven in Matthew and GOD in Luke. The poor / poor in spirit typically represented those that gave wholly of their lives to Christ as they had nothing else. In turn Christ tells them their reward is the riches of Heaven. We see this with the poor woman giving her last coins and Christ immediately saying she gave more than anyone else because she gave all she had. Christ also tells the rich young man to sell everything to be a follower of HIM. What happened? The young man walked off in despair confirming the point Christ made which is the reward of Heaven is difficult for the Rich. So it makes complete sense that poor / poor in spirit is saying the same thing and refers to the same condition. That of having almost or literally nothing being reduced to begging.

So now back to your question of how do we Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians alike become poor in Spirit? The plain truth is to become poor in spirit would mean losing everything you have being reduced to a “beggarly”, if you will, person. Some Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians are already there as we see in the villages of Nairobi. They are as poor as they come but they are followers of Christ. Theirs is the Kingdom of GOD. The most important thing is if one becomes poor / poor in spirit they must never give up on Christ. Usually when a person is poor or poor in spirit all they have is their faith.

PEACE

Profound ND:thumbsup:

 

[NDfan]

Profound ND:thumbsup:

Thanks Soutane. I wanted to add that in Matthew he does say ptochos pneuma. Ptochos as I described above and pneuma which gets used for the Holy Spirit. But it also gets used to refer to ones vitality, their soul, desire or hope. Usually in the times of the Gospels being poor also meant being poor in spirit since the Romans oppressed them and the tax collectors took all their money. But even if you lived somewhat comfortably you could still be poor in spirit. So what Christ is saying is if you have nothing possession-wise, or if you have lost all hope don’t worry because Faith in ME means the Kingdom of GOD is yours. Many scholars tend to agree that Christ may have said “Blessed are the ptochos or ptochos pneuma, for theirs is the Kingdom of GOD / Heaven”. Matthew may have captured it one way while Luke seeing how Matthew recorded it left out pneuma. I say this because Luke was written after Matthew.

I sometimes feel my spirit gets crushed as I’m sure yours may have also. But don’t worry because the Kingdom of GOD is ours in Christ.

PEACE

 

[tierney]

I think “poverty” and “poor” don’t have the meanings we usually equate with them. The poverty is more of a need for God and that pleases God. If you are a rich person but have spiritual poverty and that would be ok with God…He doesn’t care if we have money as long as it is balanced in our lives and also used for good.

 

[NDfan]

I think “poverty” and “poor” don’t have the meanings we usually equate with them. The poverty is more of a need for God and that pleases God. If you are a rich person but have spiritual poverty and that would be ok with God…He doesn’t care if we have money as long as it is balanced in our lives and also used for good.

Tierney good stuff. Poverty is more of a need for GOD!!! I love that statement.

 

[Soutane]

“I sometimes feel my spirit gets crushed as I’m sure yours may have also. But don’t worry because the Kingdom of GOD is ours in Christ.”

The first sentence sums up my present state to a "T’.I have to constantly remind myself of the latter.

 

[Soutane]

I think “poverty” and “poor” don’t have the meanings we usually equate with them. The poverty is more of a need for God and that pleases God. If you are a rich person but have spiritual poverty and that would be ok with God…He doesn’t care if we have money as long as it is balanced in our lives and also used for good.

It’s funny how nothing empirical truly truly makes us ecstatic and delivers a final “fullness” or enduring satisfaction.“My heart is restless O God,until it rests in thee”(St. Augustine)

 

[tierney]

I am going through a feeling of being poor in spirit right now…it seems to happen every few weeks and it seems no matter what I DO as in praying, reading and just straining to get guidance gets me nowhere. But when I am least expecting it, a person will say just what I need to hear or I will open a book to something that is just exactly what I was feeling. At that point, I realize that it’s true…you sometimes have to be “on empty” for God to fill you. Ninety percent of the time when these things have happened are not when I am happy and feeling content…it’s when I am low and about to give up.

It’s hard to realize this when we are feeling spirit poverty, though.