The information provided in this series on the Beatitudes is based on Scripture and articles published in “The Rosary Light & Life” Newsletter. The publication of this newsletter is through the Rosary Confraternity. If you pray the rosary regularly, please consider visiting the Rosary Confraternity website to learn more about it. [www.rosarycenter.org]
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The journey to explore the Beatitudes starts with the spirit. What does this mean? How does it apply to me, today?
First, we should examine what “Poor in Spirit” means. We might mistakenly consider that Jesus is talking about the poor. Jesus looked after the poor and asked us to do the same.
Instead, Jesus is referring to our spiritual condition, or the poverty of our spirituality. This holds true today more than ever. The growing lack of interest in the Sacraments. The falling number of people that attend Mass. These are examples of our outward spirituality, the way in which we express our spirituality in our life.
There is also an inward spirituality that grows through our relationship with God. There are some people today that say they are “Spiritual” people. They might say that God is everywhere, or that we just need to be good people. While these statements are not entirely false, they do not render us a path to closeness with God. A closeness that can only be grow through the Sacraments and Spiritual Development.
By saying, “Poor in spirit” Jesus identifies our spiritual poverty. We must each recognize our own individual need for God. In order to do this we each need to be humble.
In humility we come to understand our place in the relationship with God. Through that understanding we find a God filled with so much love for us that He offers us grace. We can continue to grow and realize that God gives all the gifts and blessings in our lives.
Humility allows us to recognize the graces offered to us from God. It allows us to see our frailty and our reliance on God.
Without humility and a dry spirit we are no longer open to the true Word of God. We isolate ourselves from God’s words, and even if we attend Mass and hear the readings they can lose flavor for us.
Through this emptiness we can look to satisfy it by seeking happiness in this world. These forms of happiness may please for a moment, but it quickly fades. Then there is a growing need to find more happiness. We constantly seek something to make us whole, but the cup within our hearts has a crack from sin and drains that happiness. It becomes a task that never completes.
This is the primary difference between happiness and joy. The joy that God brings to us fills the cracks in our cup. It gives happiness that does not quickly drain away. With our cups filled we can focus on other areas of our life, no longer trying to fill a need that cannot be filled.
The most basic form of Spiritual Growth does not need any direction. It comes from inside us. It is the earnest desire to sit and talk with God through prayer. Prayer should not feel like a choir, or an obligation, but instead should be a deep interest within our heart to talk with God and grow closer to Him.
Prayers becomes the start to our spiritual journey and through it we will come to know God.
In conclusion, how does being poor in spirit give a person the kingdom of God? It happens through conversion. A conversion of the spirit. We recognize in our spiritual poverty that we are lacking God, we recognize that we focus on the sin of Pride instead of humility. We realize that we seek limited happiness in this world to fill us with temporary happiness. Through that realization, we seek God in prayer and attempt to become Rich in Spirit. Then the kingdom of God will not seem so far away. We will begin to experience it here, in this world, with God all around us.
Metaphysical Ruminations 