Humble and Blessed

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to humility as a disposition in which we are open to the Spirit who reveals a mature understanding of righteousness on our journey.

Righteousness is compassion

The reading from the Prophet Zephaniah declares Jerusalem is restored to a people humble and lowly.

* [2:1–3] This oracle is a classic description of the day of the Lord as an overwhelming disaster, concluding with a call for repentance and reform. Nation without shame: Judah. (Zephaniah, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

Psalm 146 offers praise for God’s Help

* [Psalm 146] A hymn of someone who has learned there is no other source of strength except the merciful God. Only God, not mortal human beings (Ps 146:3–4), can help vulnerable and oppressed people (Ps 146:5–9). The first of the five hymns that conclude the Psalter. (Psalms, PSALM 146, n.d.)

The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians describes the relationship of humility between Corinthians and Paul.

* [1:26–2:5] The pattern of God’s wisdom and power is exemplified in their own experience, if they interpret it rightly (1 Cor 1:26–31), and can also be read in their experience of Paul as he first appeared among them preaching the gospel (1 Cor 2:1–5).

* [1:29–31] “Boasting (about oneself)” is a Pauline expression for the radical sin, the claim to autonomy on the part of a creature, the illusion that we live and are saved by our own resources. “Boasting in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:31), on the other hand, is the acknowledgment that we live only from God and for God. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes.

* [5:3–12] The form Blessed are (is) occurs frequently in the Old Testament in the Wisdom literature and in the psalms. Although modified by Matthew, the first, second, fourth, and ninth beatitudes have Lucan parallels (Mt 5:3 // Lk 6:20; Mt 5:4 // Lk 6:21b; Mt 5:6 // Lk 6:21a; Mt 5:11–12 // Lk 5:22–23). The others were added by the evangelist and are probably his own composition. A few manuscripts, Western and Alexandrian, and many versions and patristic quotations give the second and third beatitudes in inverted order.

* [5:3] The poor in spirit: in the Old Testament, the poor (’anāwîm) are those who are without material possessions and whose confidence is in God (see Is 61:1; Zep 2:3; in the NAB the word is translated lowly and humble, respectively, in those texts). Matthew added in spirit in order either to indicate that only the devout poor were meant or to extend the beatitude to all, of whatever social rank, who recognized their complete dependence on God. The same phrase poor in spirit is found in the Qumran literature (1QM 14:7).

* [5:4] Cf. Is 61:2, “(The Lord has sent me)…to comfort all who mourn.” They will be comforted: here the passive is a “theological passive” equivalent to the active “God will comfort them”; so also in Mt 5:6, 7.

* [5:5] Cf. Ps 37:11, “…the meek shall possess the land.” In the psalm “the land” means the land of Palestine; here it means the kingdom.

* [5:6] For righteousness: a Matthean addition. For the meaning of righteousness here, see note on Mt 3:14–15.

* [5:8] Cf. Ps 24:4. Only one “whose heart is clean” can take part in the temple worship. To be with God in the temple is described in Ps 42:3 as “beholding his face,” but here the promise to the clean of heart is that they will see God not in the temple but in the coming kingdom.

* [5:10] Righteousness here, as usually in Matthew, means conduct in conformity with God’s will.

* [5:12] The prophets who were before you: the disciples of Jesus stand in the line of the persecuted prophets of Israel. Some would see the expression as indicating also that Matthew considered all Christian disciples as prophets. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5, n.d.)

David Crawford shares a few favorite insights about the Beatitudes he has heard/read that have stuck with him over the years. 

When Matthew’s Gospel writes about the poor in spirit, that does not refer to individuals who are weak in the faith.  Rather, it refers to those who are not spiritually arrogant but who, having recognized their own limitations, rely completely on God.  The poor in spirit are thus doubly blessed because they are closer to God now, and (as one commentator noted) because “this total reliance on God is the doorway into” His kingdom.  The “humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord” described by the prophet Zephaniah (from today’s Reading I) fit this category. The meek Jesus mentions need not be timid, cowering individuals.  Ancient Greeks warriors prized a meek war horse.  In battle, the rider had to count on a steed responding quickly to commands.  A horse that fights the bit is said to have a hard mouth, but one with a gentle mouth – a meek horse, as the Greeks described it – moves in unison with its rider.  We are called to have gentle souls that respond quickly to the Spirit’s guidance so that our thoughts and action are in concert with God’s plan for us.  Can you imagine the joy of such an intimate connection with God? Blessed are the ones who bring and maintain peace.  Peace is more than just the absence of conflict.  I recently heard a pastor talk about how our understanding of the meaning of the word “peace” benefits when we look at the Hebrew word shalom.  Shalom indicates peace, yes, but also harmony, tranquility, completeness, wholeness, welfare, with all things in their right place.  In short, shalom is a peace that comes from God.  When Jesus says “Blessed are the peacemakers,” He is talking about persons who bring God’s peace to volatile situations as well as to troubled souls.  Part of the blessing of being a peacemaker is the blessing of personally experiencing God’s peace.  Only one who possesses God’s peace, even at a small level or for a period of time, can bring that peace to others. As you read the parts about “righteousness” – those who hunger and thirst for it, those who are persecuted for its sake – think back to our reading today from I Corinthians.  Paul writes that Jesus became righteousness for us – Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness . . . .  It can be tempting, and stressful, to focus on a list of Do’s and Don’ts.  How much better to hunger and thirst to be with and like Christ. In the last of today’s reading, the part about being insulted, persecuted, lied about, the key phrase is “because of me.”  As we aspire to live Christ-like, Spirit-led lives, we will find ourselves in difficult situations.  Remember that we are promised (Luke 21:14-15) that God will give us the words we need so that our defense is Christ-like and Spirit-led. Now, go forth and Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth.  Be blessed as you serve others.  Shalom! (Crawford, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “Perfect blessedness is humility of spirit,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).

"'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' The Lord taught by way of example that the glory of human ambition must be left behind when he said, 'The Lord your God shall you adore and him only shall you serve' (Matthew 4:10). And when he announced through the prophets that he would choose a people humble and in awe of his words [Isaiah 66:2], he introduced the perfect Beatitude as humility of spirit. Therefore he defines those who are inspired as people aware that they are in possession of the heavenly kingdom... Nothing belongs to anyone as being properly one's own, but all have the same things by the gift of a single parent. They have been given the first things needed to come into life and have been supplied with the means to use them." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 4.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 5:1-12 comments that this is what it means to be meek: to bend our will to God’s. This kind of meekness requires strength, not weakness, and a willingness to trust and obey the Lord. When we follow God’s commandments, even when our passions and desires push us in the opposite direction, we will enjoy freedom from sin. When we seek the Lord’s will in all that we do—especially when we are faced with an important decision—we will feel peaceful and secure that we are following the right path.

Is there an area in your life that you are struggling to submit to the Lord? If so, repent and ask for the grace to give it to him. And even if you don’t see the blessings right away, believe that they will come, just as Jesus promised.

“Lord, help me to be like you, meek and humble of heart.” (Meditation on Matthew 5:1-12, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the humility that was with the anawim as described by Zephaniah and the need for humility among those in Corinth, addressed by Paul, who thought themselves spiritually superior. Matthew structures five sessions of teaching in the Gospel to connect to the five books of the Torah, the first teaching is the Sermon on the Mount. Friar Jude fleshes out the connection of compassion as righteousness, cleanliness of thought, and participation in the Cross to the Beatitudes.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces the first half of life and the necessary journey beyond it with a message adapted from  Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life .

Various traditions have used many metaphors to make this differentiation clear: beginner and proficient, novices and initiated, milk and meat, letter and spirit, juniors and seniors, baptized and confirmed, apprentice and master, morning and evening, “Peter when you were young … Peter when you are old” (John 21:18). Only when we have begun to live in the second half of life can we see the difference between the two. Yet the two halves are cumulative and sequential, and both are very necessary. We cannot do a nonstop flight to the second half of life by reading lots of books about it. Grace must and will edge us forward. “God has no grandchildren. God only has children,” as some have said. Each generation has to make its own discoveries of Spirit for itself.  

No pope, Bible quote, psychological technique, religious formula, book, or guru can do the journey for us. If we try to skip the first journey, we will never receive its real fruits or understand its limitations. (Rohr, 2023)

Our tendency to self aggrandizement and entrenchment in our ways is disturbed by Jesus' explanation of the blessed righteousness of humility and compassion in the Sermon on the Mount. 

References

Crawford, D. (2023, January 29). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/012923.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5 

Meditation on Matthew 5:1-12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/01/29/596930/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/1?26 

Psalms, PSALM 146. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/146?6 

Rohr, R. (2023, January 29). The Task Within The Task — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-task-within-the-task-2023-01-29/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Rejoice and Be Glad, for Your Reward Is Great in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=jan29 

Zephaniah, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/zephaniah/2