BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

The first step on the journey to the Heart of Jesus is the first beatitude:  Blessed are the poor in  spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Helen Doohan explains in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality:

"Poor in spirit" represents those empty, rejected, abused, who accept life's difficulties without bitterness, waiting for God's deliverance. They stand without pretense before the Lord, realizing their lack of self-sufficiency. (Doohan, 1993, p. 81)

What a challenge it is to "accept life's difficulties without bitterness!"  Even harder is the waiting! At least if we know what's going to happen we can prepare ourselves, but how often all we can do is see the next good step. What do we do? We wait. When all we know is darkness, we wait for God to reveal his will; we wait for God to show us where he wants us; we wait for God to lead us. This attitude of waiting on God reveals our need for God and our trust in Him. By this attitude we affirm clearly our total "lack of self-sufficiency." What is the promise? Blessed may you be if you know your need of God, "yours is the Kingdom of Heaven."

          If we are to take Jesus seriously in the first beatitude, we must embrace the humility, which is of the essence of the poor in spirit. The challenge is to put on the mind and heart of Christ Jesus! Keep in mind the invitation given to us: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Jesus calls us to enter his heart. His side was opened so we may enter. He invites us to enter into ever-deeper friendship with him. It is as if Jesus says to us: Make your home in me as I make mine in you.  The first step on the journey into the Heart of Jesus is to know our weakness, to know our own nothingness, to know our need for a Savior, to know our need to be loved by one who will never fail us.

      Blessed may you be if you know where to find the Pearl of Great Price, true treasure, real riches, in the Heart of Christ, then the Kingdom of heaven will be yours. This draws us to turn to Jesus for rest. Where do we find our rest? Where do we find the Kingdom of Heaven? In his Heart!