The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

CatholicExchange.com ^ | April 14th, 2010 | Mark Shea

[Salvation]

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

April 14th, 2010 by Mark Shea

The first beatitude teaches us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

The Gospel calls us to a paradox in its teaching on poverty. First, it bids us recognize in the face of the poor the face of Christ. Our culture is resistant to this idea and likes to hurriedly put emphasis on the words “in spirit” in order to distance ourselves from looking into the faces of the hobos, winos, toothless geezers, street kids with fleas, addicts, schizophrenics, brawling illiterates and smelly people who are, after all, what the word “poor” often refers to. To be sure (as we shall see in a moment) poverty of spirit is a good thing. But we should first note that Jesus himself is elsewhere recorded as pronouncing a blessing on the poor—period (Luke 6:20). Because of this, our tradition has always preserved what is known as the “preferential option for the poor”: the assumption that the poor, being among the most defenseless in our midst, not only require the care of the rest of society and not our contempt but, more than that, that they are “blessed”: that is, somehow set apart and above the rest of us by God, simply by virtue of the fact that they are poor. There’s no clause in there about their being virtuous, deserving, likable or hygienic. It is an act of pure grace and generosity by God.

We should linger over that fact for a while and not hurry on too quickly to spiritualizing the saying, still less to telling the poor to get with the program and pull themselves up by their bootstraps so as to stop being poor. To be sure, self-improvement is a fine thing and there’s nothing wrong with helping people improve their economic fortunes. But our Calvinist culture is overly quick to assume that the poor are the way they are because they are shiftless, etc. So our first impulse is to blame. The gospel does not take this easy route. That’s why Christ’s first words to the poor are words of blessing, not of blame or advice. He does this despite the fact that the Jewish tradition—especially in the book of Proverbs—is chockablock with all sorts of blame and advice for the poor, just as Christian culture is. He has something deeper to say: namely, that Christ, who was rich, became poor for our sake and so he identifies himself in a peculiar way with the poor and calls us to see himself in them. Our task, first, is to see that: to hold our tongues from the reams of blame and advice we itch to give the poor and to contemplate the reality that in encountering them, we are encountering Jesus Christ.

At the very same time, the gospel has no truck with the romantic leftist notion that the poor are automatically morally noble by virtue of their poverty. In other words, they are blessed, but they are not automatically saints. Suffering can sanctify, but it need not necessarily do so. As we ourselves know when we suffer, it is not the case that mere suffering automatically makes us disposed to hear and obey the Holy Spirit. The fundamental human dignity of the poor is that they retain the human power to choose beatitude or damnation. And so, for instance, a hundred years ago, a poor man whom Christ blessed along with all the poor roamed the streets of Vienna, struggling to keep food in his belly, living among the rat-infested underclass. His father had beaten him as a child and his beloved mother had died of cancer. Like countless young men before him, he dreamed of being an artist and he spent years in poverty as he strove to achieve his vision. But for all that, Adolf Hitler was not transformed into a saint.

That is the paradox of this beatitude. When looking at the poor, we must see the face of Christ who identifies himself with them. But we must not (especially in facing our own poverty) make the easy assumption that we identify ourselves with Christ. We may know for certain that our humble Lord is “God with us” in all the desert places of our life, but we dare not suppose that merely being poor is a guarantee of our sanctity. We must recognize our poverty—whether financial, emotional, spiritual or physical—as a great opportunity, but not presume from it that we are therefore paragons of virtue.

Here, then, is the twofold promise of this beatitude: You can spot a poor man easily, but you will never see his spirit. That’s why we are not to judge but are simply to assume that the poor we meet are Jesus and act accordingly. It is only in our own case that we and we alone have the power to bid the poor man to be truly poor in spirit. If we see Christ in the face of the poor and treat them like him, we shall be blessed. If we acknowledge our poverty and need of God and look to him to fill our need we shall be twice blessed.

 

Mark Shea is Senior Content Editor for Catholic Exchange and a weekly columnist for the National Catholic Register. You may visit his website at www.mark-shea.com check out his blog, Catholic and Enjoying It!, or purchase his books and tapes here.

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[LiteKeeper]

This verse has nothing to do with poverty! I have taught this verse many times, and researched it carefully.

The Greek word for "poor" is "ptochos" - it refers to someone who is totally helpless, such as crippled beggar who cannot even walk, and must be carried to the spot where he begs.

Combined with the word, "pneuma" - "spirit", the context and the words clearly are talking about the spiritual condition of total helplessness. In this case, the total inability of man to find salvation and righteousness on his own.

The Bible talks about the poor in other places, but this verse is speaking of a spiritual reality, not an earthly reality.

[Salvation]

I’ve always thought of poor in spirit as someone being deprived of the sunshine of another’s smile, perhaps someone suffering from desperation or discouragement rather than the en-couragement of the Lord.

Does that go with what you are talking about.

[Salvation]

**When looking at the poor, we must see the face of Christ who identifies himself with them. **

But I think this is very true also. We must not judge by appearance. Perhaps Christ is passing by. I’m currently reading Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Your Catholic Faith.

There are several stories in it about someone doing a good deed for a person who appeared to be poor, but after the good deed they look back to see how the person is doing and the person has totally disappeared.

Was that Christ crossing their path? Hard to tell.

Basically, I think we must be kind to ALL people, regardless of their mental, physical or spiritual state of being.

[eyedigress]

I became poor in my life not so long ago and prayed. I read the bible until the pages were red with blood. I asked for and received understanding. I received a bed with family 2000 miles from all possessions I owned.

It was a sobering experience. I now understand. My life is completely different due to my trust of GOD. My Family gave me a place to sleep. All possessions were lost.

I have a big heart and more than I ever had. It was 7 years.

[Salvation]

Your story exemplifies God’s mercy on the poor in spirit. It sounds as though you had lost a job and a home and someone gave you a place to lay your head.

Blessed be God!

Even Jesus didn’t have a pillow to lay his head on!

[Salvation]

Another thing I was just thinking of is Christ always comparing the rich to the poor and saying “Blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth.”

The first shall be last and the last shall be first.

There are many such examples.

[eyedigress]

The Lord received my prayer of help as sincere. I was hurting and didn’t have a direction. I prayed. I asked for explanation of scripture and received it. I promised to never hide or turn away from truth. Jesus delivered.

[eyedigress]

I am incorrect on how that was delivered. You know.

[LiteKeeper]

Not really. This is referring to the spiritual condition we are all in before Christ comes into our lives...the total inability, on the part of man, to make himself right with God. We are spiritually destitute...completely, and utterly dependent upon God. And there is nothing we can do, or say, to change that. It is a complete “Grace” transaction, if you will, by which I mean, only God can effect a change in us, not we ourselves.

[Salvation]

You say that only God can effect this situation of the poor in spirit.

I beg to disagree — although connected by a thin thread. Those who reach out to the poor and destitute do so through God working through them. But it is still their human actions that shine through. Mother Theresa of Calcutta and the Sisters of Chairity ministering to the poor on the streets comes to mind.

Yes, those people may have been utterly away from God, but they were also covered with sores, dying from aids, hungry and thirsty. There can be a physical element to this picture too. It is not always spiritual or mental. What about someone such as a Down Syndrome child living in a rich home, being cared for adequately?

Is that Down Syndrome child “poor in spirit”? I guess a better example would be a person who is mentally ill.

[eyedigress]

In my case I was very successful from a meager background. It all was removed. I struggled to understand. I turned to God to understand. Others came into my world, and my final willingness to drop my past possessions enabled me to move forward. The Lord answers, the Holy Spirit is the one that provides the pathway. Jesus provides the example.

[JoeProBono]

[skr]

I agree. “Poor in spirit” is the phrase, not “poor...in spirit”. Anyone can be poor in spirit.

[circlecity]

"Combined with the word, "pneuma" - "spirit", the context and the words clearly are talking about the spiritual condition of total helplessness. In this case, the total inability of man to find salvation and righteousness on his own. The Bible talks about the poor in other places, but this verse is speaking of a spiritual reality, not an earthly reality."

But could these two: humility and lack of excess material wealth be two sides of the same coin Jesus is referring to? Note in Luke's version of the sermon it merely says "blessed are the poor". I really think Jesus is referring to both here, the point being that those who are wealthy will be so concerned with the material things of the world they will never achieve the humility, the "spiritual helplessnes" you speak of, to enter the Kingdom of God. This is why Jesus says it is easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The rich will always believe they are captain of their own soul. However, it's not impossible - with God all things are possible. This is shown by the incident with Zacchaeus in chapter 20 of Luke. A rich man is completely changed by his encounter with Christ. He basically renounces his attachment to wealth and by extension to himself. He has become 'poor in spirit" by giving away most (if not all) of wealth. He is the exact opposite of the rich young man Jesus encounted in the previous chapter.

[MaggieCarta]

...Because of this, our tradition has always preserved what is known as the “preferential option for the poor”: the assumption that the poor, being among the most defenseless in our midst, not only require the care of the rest of society and not our contempt but, more than that, that they are “blessed”: that is, somehow set apart and above the rest of us by God, simply by virtue of the fact that they are poor. There’s no clause in there about their being virtuous, deserving, likable or hygienic. It is an act of pure grace and generosity by God....

Well...yes...but, sorry, I still favor the notion of the "deserving poor"--probably coined sometime in Elizabethean England. The people of that time also took a somewhat dim view of what were called "sturdy beggars"--meaning those who could, but wouldn't work honestly for their living.

This is why, IMHO, charity should be a private matter, not coerced via any level of government. (Which probably isn't what this guy is actually advocating, but I kind of have a problem with the new fangled "social justice" scene pushed in some parishes)

[wastoute]

Recognizing the face of Christ in the poor does NOT mean showering them with tax dollars. The poor are poor for a number of different reasons, schizophrenia, addiction, poor judgement, economic downturns, etc. Doing what one can for an individual in their circumstances is to be encouraged and rewarded (at The Great White Throne) but “enabling” them to continue or deepen their suffering will not (IMHO). The “Unintended Consequences” of “Progressive Programs” to promote some bizarre concept of “social justice” falls in the latter category, it seems to me.

[trebb]

Yes - “poor in spirit” is similar to Pauls’s lament about doing things he would not do and not doing things he would do. He knew he could never be even slightly worthy and he anguished over his inability to follow Jesus’ example. This is a beautiful bit of info, because it further demonstrates God’s forgiveness as He knows we can’t earn our worthiness, but repenting and regretting our continued sinful behavior is counted as a plus. Some claim being saved means they don’t do sinful things, I still do what I would not, but I get comfort knowing His love is so great that he “distinctly remembers forgetting my wickedness”.