Gospel: Blessed Are the Poor

By Fr. Jack Peterson
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 2/8/07)

God offers a veritable feast from the table of His Word this Sunday. He provides the opportunity to be nourished with our prayerful reflection upon the beatitudes as recounted in St. Luke’s Gospel. It is not possible in this reflection to describe each course in this sumptuous meal, so I will address the first course, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.”
The poor are blessed because their condition easily leads to faith in God. Believing in God and loving Him constitute the greatest blessing on this earth. Therefore, being poor and developing the poverty of spirit that leads to faith is indeed a great blessing. As St. James reminds us: “Has not God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith?” (Jm 2:5).
The poor are unable to throw money at their problems to make them go away or to medicate their pain with an abundance of pleasures. As a result, they are more likely to turn to God and recognize their profound need for Him. This recognition of our dependence upon God is a great blessing.
Those who are poor are less likely to be distracted by material things that clutter our lives and keep us from focusing on what is truly important, like God’s love, family life and the service of our neighbor. This freedom that often results from poverty leads to happiness.
Being poor helps a person to understand those who suffer in similar and different ways around them and motivates them to offer whatever help they can. This generosity pleases God greatly. Jesus’ praise of the widow in the temple makes it clear that the poor can be generous and that God delights in such generosity.
The poor are more likely to be dependent upon others for their daily sustenance, like extended family or members of a local church. This need for help easily translates into a keen awareness of our need for God, the Giver of all good gifts. This profound awareness that we are not the masters of the universe is a great blessing because it forces us to turn regularly to the source of life and goodness, God himself. A person who does so “is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream” (Jer. 17: 7).
While it is certainly possible to be materially poor and not turn to God in faith, those who are poor are in a condition that lends to seeing the radical need that every human being has for God. They are never far from believing in God’s infinite goodness and love. In that way, the poor are truly blessed and the Kingdom of God is theirs.

Fr. Peterson is campus minister at Marymount University in Arlington and director of the Youth Apostles Institute in McLean.

(c) Copyright 2007 by Arlington Catholic Herald