Fr. James Martin, S.J. tweeted today, “Gospel:
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?” I must admit I have always struggle
with an understanding of this first beatitude. Fr. Martin’s answer, “Poor in
Spirit” is to know one’s reliance on God, to understand one’s dependence on God
and to grasp one’s humanity. I guess we might say that to be “poor in spirit”
is to let go and let God.
The other challenge of the beatitudes is
that to live fully any one of the beatitudes, you will almost automatically
begin to live them all. Perhaps to put it another way, “You can’t live just
one!” In order to be a peacemaker we need to also be meek, merciful, clean of
heart, righteous and poor in spirit. In order to be merciful we need to be
clean of heart, meek, poor in spirit, righteous and a peacemaker. They go hand
in hand.
However living the beatitudes is not
easy because they will all make us vulnerable to insult, persecution and the
evils of our world. They all open us up to insecurities of the world which can
be troubling, harsh, insensitive and hurtful. In other words living the
beatitudes can open us up to be stepped on, hurt and not valued as a person.
Living the beatitudes almost always put us in tension with the ways of culture,
society and the world.
Yet, in the midst of all that Jesus
tells us to rejoice and be glad. The challenge of the beatitudes has been going
on since the beginning of time. Women and men before us have faced the
challenge and their prize, the Kingdom, await us. Perhaps all the beatitudes
can really be proclaim and lived in the phrase, “Let go and let God!”
Daily Prayer:
Loving God, we pray today to be one of
the “poor in spirit” so we ask that you:
Liberate us from our desires to be
wealthy, and our belief that ‘a little bit more’ will make us happy!
Liberate us from our daydreams of
self-sufficiency, in which we see ourselves as makers of our own life, controllers
of our own destiny, advancers of our own cause, and the only recipient of
credit for our accomplishments.
Liberate us from our attempts to buy a
sense of worthiness, by our eye-catching good deeds and public acts of service.
Show us a better way – to be your “poor
in spirit” so that we might come before you with open hands and open hearts.
Show us the deep connection we between our
sisters and our brothers, and the way in which you created us to live in loving
trust of each other.
Show us how to be compassionate,
merciful, meek, clean of heart and peacemakers. That we might bring these gifts
to everyone we meet.
Show us how to hunger and thrust for
justice that we might truly be people of life.
Show us the fullness of your kingdom, in
which you call us to participate – here and now – not by our own perfection, but
by the grace you offer us through Jesus Christ.
Grace us with the strength to look
beyond the insults, the negativity, the hurts and the ridicule to the gift of
our love that travels with us never letting us face the perils of this way
alone. Amen!
Runner’s Thought: Mother Teresa
saw Christ in the face of everyone she met, it is possible to conduct a run
that models her behavior. So as we run, let’s place a smile on our face and
thus offer a blessing to everyone we meet on our run today!
Happy Monday everyone! I trust you had
an enjoyable weekend. The weather at least in this neck of the woods was beautiful.
The only negative was a sore foot that kept me from running over the weekend.
If your weekend didn’t go so well let’s pray that as we begin this new week
things will get better!
We seem to be racing through June at
least that is the way it feels to me. Sometimes I would just like to slow time
down so I can full enjoy the moment. But onward we journey so I guess it is up
to me to stop and smell the flowers every once in a while.
Have a great day and please know my
prayers go with you. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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