29 January 2023 «

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!”

 

Today in the Gospel we hear the heart of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. St. Augustine wrote the Beatitudes present a perfect summary of what it means to be a Christian. Other Fathers have seen in the Beatitudes a portrait of Jesus Christ himself in how he lives and carries out his mission. 

 

The beatitudes are an endless source for our prayer as we seek to embody them in our lives. They begin with humility “blessed are the poor in spirit for  the kingdom of God is theirs.” A humility that must be seen and felt and then lived. The poor in spirit realize their total dependence upon God in all things, that all is pure gift, and without God we can do nothing. Jesus lived out this poverty of spirit in his incarnation, in the garden of gethsemane, on the cross, and in countless other ways. He manifests the joy and blessedness that passes by way of embracing the reality of our total need for God and God’s merciful care for us in our need. From this humility our spiritual lives begin, grow, deepen, or are reborn. 

 

Any of the beatitudes can provide us with a window into Christ’s heart and of our call as Christians. Let us pick one of the beatitudes today and meditate upon it and upon how Christ teaches us how to live it out in the Gospels.