Twice lately the gospel readings at Mass have been Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, once on Sunday and once for my father-in-law’s funeral. Listening to this while mourning Dave’s Dad made me think about what these passages mean.
I’ve been puzzled by the beatitudes, just what does it mean to be “meek”, to “inherit the earth”? But the one that finally drove me to contemplate and research was the first beatitude.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.
Being “poor in spirit” cannot mean being “poor spirited”. A poor spirited person is timid, faint-hearted. We might think of someone always complaining, always down.
Nor can it mean someone full of false humility, or someone mealy-mouthed.
Can you imagine Christ as either timid or mealy-mouthed? I cannot. Nor do I believe this is what the Beatitude means.
Here is what I do think it means.
If you are poor, truly poor so you lack enough to eat, or a warm place to sleep, then you want those things. You know you need them to live, and you recognize your need and want and will take action to improve your situation.
If you are poor in spirit, then you recognize you lack God’s grace, his help, his presence, and you recognize you must have these to survive. You want them so badly you will do whatever you must to get God’s grace and presence.
I found two other interpretations online. Several sources said to be poor in spirit is to renounce the hold that material things have on us, to devalue them, to strive for the things of God and not possessions, and to share your wealth generously with the poor, be charitable. Another source said it was to be in solidarity with the poor. That second interpretation didn’t do much for me.
My study Bible, The New American Bible, says in the Old Testament “poor” meant without possessions whose confidence is in God. In the New Testament Matthew uses “poor in spirit” to mean those who recognize their complete dependence on God.
Isn’t this what Christ did himself while on Earth? He demonstrated complete confidence and dependence on his Father. I must try to do the same.
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