Tag: beatitudes

The Peacemakers

The Beatitudes Series Part 7

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God

By Amy Saleam

Peace – is it more than just merely the absence of physical chaos?

To really answer this question, we need to think of where our peace comes from. In John 14:27, the Lord says “peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.” When we think about cause and effect, we realise that for something to happen, there would be some sort of trigger or stimulus for it. In this beatitude we are called to be peacemakers, so it is very important as Christians to know where our peace comes from, truly acknowledge it and allow it to manifest into our actions, so that we may really live our lives as reflections of Christ.

When you switch on the news or even when you’re aimlessly scrolling through social media, you read and watch reckless behaviour, unforgiveness in the name of justice, humiliation of others, leaders of countries making derogatory comments about other nations and the list goes on. To a person who has not known Christ, this may seem like just another day in this “normal,” yet so broken world.

The difference for us is that having Christ as the centre of our lives means having His peace dwell within us. This peace can alleviate the anxiety and fear of what we see on the news and social media and gives us an opportunity to challenge these broken “norms.”  The truth is, however, we very so often take this lightly. Christ has given us something so precious, a peace that can be found nowhere else but in Him. With this peaces comes the responsibility to make our actions a reflection of He who dwells within us. For some, our actions of love and forgiveness can, at times, be the first taste of Christ for others. This is something we should consider when we are dealing with others in difficult situations. Are we going to respond in a way which reflects the corruption that is around us, or are we going to react in a way that will emit Christ? Understanding that by offering the grace and peace that the Lord has given us to others, we are in extension giving them an opportunity to know what it is like to have Christ.

So to answer the question, is peace more than just the absence of physical chaos? Yes. This is because in order for there to be a physical kind of peace, it is something that starts from the purity of our hearts and the treasure of the Lord’s peace in our lives. In Psalm 120:7 we read, “I am for peace, but when they speak they are for war.” St John Chrysostom comments on this and says:

This is virtue, this is above man’s understanding, this makes us near God…but if we are fighting and buffeting, we become far off from God: for enmities are produced by conflict, and from enmity springs remembrance of evil.

Identity – Who am I, who are you?

As we read through the beatitudes, we realise that each one is painting a montage of who Christ is, as He teaches us the virtues we are to exhibit. Living out each of these virtues is followed by a blessing. What is so special about the seventh beatitude is that It does not tell us what we will obtain, but rather it tells us about who we are.

When you first meet someone, your conversations will go something like this. You’ll start off with your name, your ethnic background, what your 9-5 is, perhaps you’ll even mention a hobby or two. These are all little bits and pieces of your character that are sown together. These are the conversation starters that can help connect us with other people. I’d like you to think of the part of you that you value the most. The piece of your identity that you cannot live without, that if it was taken from you overnight, you really cannot fathom what you will do.

What I love the most about this beatitude is that it reminds us that through the Lord, we can obtain the most valuable piece of our identity. Something that cannot be physically touched or seen, but something prized that cannot be taken from you. A title that your heart will be satisfied in, even if what you thought was the most important part of your life was not there anymore. How truly beautiful is it to know that you are the son or daughter of God.

So how can we live out Christ’s peace? I was listening to a sermon by Fr Benjamin Abouelkheir which was a part of a series called ‘Parting with Partiality’ He tells us that partiality is when we allow our own thoughts and emotions influence how we deal with and perceive other people, instead of using fact. Fr Benjamin points out Galatians 3:25-27 where we are told that we are all Sons of God through faith in Christ and that there is  “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This really had me thinking. Perhaps the first steps to create peace with others is to remove our own judgment and partiality, and to see others through the eyes of God. Removing this partiality will allow us to deal with others and situations not based on just their name, status, occupation or connections, but to be able to lift the bias and show them Christ through our actions.

How important is it that we become peacemakers?

“There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air. When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within….all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!” When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..”

St Seraphim of Sarov

The Lord has promised that by being a pillar of peace to others, your identity will be nothing less than being known as His child. Let us grasp onto the peace He fills us with and love others enough to share it with them and be the peacemakers that this world is yearning for.

The Pure in Heart

The Beatitudes Series Part 5

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God

By Marc Bastawrous

While serving in Sunday School a few years ago, one of my fellow servants thought of the clever idea to create a “Question Chest” for the kids. Basically, it was a home-made treasure box of sorts, where the kids would leave pieces of paper with questions on them anonymously for the servants to answer in the next lesson. During my week to answer questions, I pulled this out of the chest:

“Why should I believe in God, if I can’t see Him?”

The question broke me. Partly because I felt for my Sunday school kid who was going through a period of doubt, but mostly because I had no answer. I mustered up a half-hearted response, but I purposed in my heart that I wouldn’t let the year go past without offering a solution to this child’s problem.

A few months down the track, I was attending a revival for St Mary’s feast and the topic of the evening was purity, with the theme verse coming from Matthew 5:8 which says:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

You know in those Tom & Jerry cartoons when Tom gets a great idea for catching Jerry and a lightbulb hovers above his head. Well, I had one of those “lightbulb” moments. ? The answer has been there all along. If I wish to see God, I must be pure in heart. One of the most precious promises in the Bible and it’s been right under our noses this whole time. I couldn’t wait to tell my Sunday school kid, but before I did, I had to dig a little deeper.

In Exodus 33:11, it says this of the Prophet Moses:

“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

Why was Moses of all people allowed to see God? It’s simple. Because while Moses, was spending time in the presence of God, waiting to receive instruction, what were the Israelites doing at the bottom of the mountain? Worshipping idols, corrupting themselves.

Which is why King David said in psalm 24:

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

The one who is pure in heart, can stand in the Presence of God and see His face. There is no other condition.

God emphasised this condition in Exodus 25 and 34 as well – which we sing about in our midnight praises. In these 2 chapters, Moses describes Gods instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and in them He says that they had to make things out of pure gold, in fact, the word pure in just one of these chapters is repeated 11 times.

It makes you wonder, why does God care about it so much? I can’t imagine God to care about whether the gold is made out of 10 carets or 24 carets and He doesn’t really. What He is trying to say is that His presence is only available in a place of purity. Purity is a necessary component to accessing God.

One of the most taken-out-of-context verses comes from James 4:8. It reads:

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…”

But the part we often forget is the remainder of that verse which reads:

“…Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Before we can even contemplate drawing near to God, our hearts must first be pure. Which is why the final thing the priest prays in the Fraction right before communion is:

“Purify our souls, bodies and spirits. Purify our hearts, eyes, minds, thoughts, understanding and intentions. So that with a pure heart and an unashamed face we may dare with boldness to say unto You…”

So there! I finally had my answer. You can see God – but before you can even think about coming near Him, you had to be pure in heart. And just as I was about to offer this answer to my Sunday school class, I ran into another problem.

I discovered that in the Old Testament, seeing God was a problematic idea, to say the least. It was in fact considered to be life-threatening.

While on Mount Sinai, the Lord says to Moses:

You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live. (Ex 33:20)

Therefore, what God chose to do, was He appeared to people in the Old Testament in very filtered ways: in a fire, a cloud and even a whirlwind in the book of Job.

So then, what does Jesus mean when He says: “they shall see God”?

The word “see” here doesn’t actually mean to see with your eyes, but rather, loosely translated, it means, “to possess”.

Consequently, when Christ says:

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God

What He really means to say is:

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall possess God

It means that if I am pure, then I can possess God, He belongs to me. It’s a ridiculous thing to imagine but God is telling us that it’s possible. That if my heart is pure, then He will be my possession, God will belong to me and I to Him. How beautiful?

What God is describing here is the ideal relationship between a Bridegroom and his Bride. That they belong to each other. St Paul speaks of this relationship in 1 Cor 7:4 where he says,

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

This is the relationship God wants to have with me, this intimacy, this closeness. That He would allow Himself to belong to me. And do you know just how much God wants to belong to me?

In Isaiah 49:16 we read,

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands

What does He mean by using this picture of “inscribing” me in the palm of His hands? Well, in that time, people would own slaves. In order to ensure that others knew who these slaves belonged to, the masters would engrave their names on the hands of these slaves. What God therefore is essentially saying is, “I will be your Servant, and I will belong to you.”

A sentiment echoed in the Christological Hymn found in Philippians 2 that says:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Ph 2:5-7)

If all this wasn’t clear enough already, God makes sure the message is loud and clear in the book of Ezekiel. When talking about those who belong to His people, He says:

It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. (Ez 44:28)

God is telling me, that He is my possession. How precious is it that He makes Himself my possession, my belonging?

Let us then conclude by understanding once and for all what it means to have a pure heart so that I can share in this intimate relationship with God. Simply put, to have a pure heart is to devote myself to Him. To dedicate every facet of my being to Him. My soul, body and spirit. And when I do that, only then will I see Him, only then will my name be “inscribed” in His hands as a symbol that He will forever belong to me.

In fact, the word “inscribed” that God uses in Isaiah is even more powerful in that, it means literally, “to engrave with nails”. He belongs to me, when He gives me His body on the Cross. To be pure in heart is to give Him mine in the same way.

The Merciful

The Beatitudes Series Part 5

Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy

By Meray Shehata

Jesus tells us that if we are merciful to others, we can achieve mercy from the Creator. How is it that we can be merciful then? Having this ability to be merciful means that we are also in a position to do nothing or even worse to punish others. It means that we have power or a certain stature that’s higher but instead we choose compassion and forgiveness. It means
overlooking what’s easier and in our best interest at that moment to be more Christ-like.

In Leviticus (19:9) it is written “ When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.” Imagine this land is your source of food, your source of money, it’s how you survive. Yet, God has commanded you not to make use of it, He has asked you to be poor, to be hungry and yearn
for more. Instead your profits and all your hard work will go to someone else who may not deserve it, someone who didn’t spend those long nights nurturing the plants and fruits as you did. Someone who while you put in the time and effort for these rewards may have been wasting their time and money away irresponsibly. To aggravate you even more, this person may have laughed at you, spoken evil about you behind your back and tried to poison your fruit. However, your commandment is much the same. Leave some of your profit for others.


What a cruel situation to be in, how unfair could our God be?
Although in reality, how cruel and unfair can we be? Aren’t we the undeserving going to Christ’s field and collecting the fruit without the slightest effort. Haven’t we pierced his side and placed a crown of thorns on His head? Haven’t we crucified Him and watched as His mother cried? Or worse, haven’t we denied Him and claimed that we are the reason that we
are reaping these fruits. How merciless can we be?

Now that we have acknowledged our evil, how is it that we can condemn others as evil? Is it right for us to place ourselves higher than others. Have we really the authority to condemn others when we ourselves were condemned once before? “ Let all the bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind hearted
to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:31-32). Therefore as the sinless and pure lamb was sacrificed for your redemption must you show love and mercy for others.
Is it true though? Is showing love and mercy for the benefit others only? Or is it for us too?

Well for one God has promised us mercy if we show the same. Other than that, has it ever hurt being kind to someone? Maybe in the short term, you lose some time, you might be at a loss financially, or you may not enjoy it at the beginning. Give it time. Give it time to see the blessings pour in from your Saviour. Give it time to witness your life unfold in a way you couldn’t have imagined. Have a little faith, give a little goodness and God will give you unimaginable joy because He will be at your core.

Have mercy in your work as Jesus had mercy on the disciples when they slept rather than pray.
Have mercy in your house as Jesus took care of st. Mary unto His dying breath. Have mercy in your marriage as Jesus sacrificed Himself for His church.
Have mercy with your wealth as Jesus saved humanity without a cent in his pocket.
Have mercy with your children as God so loved us He gave his only begotten Son.
But most of all have mercy in your heart as Jesus has loved you.

Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

The Beatitudes Series Part 4

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake for they shall be filled

By Demiana Salib

“Why are you cast down my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” (Ps 43:5) – Because, in my deepest distress, I feel like I’m not getting it right. I don’t know what right is. If I make a decision tomorrow, or next week, or next month, I know that I will be wiser even in those short periods of time, but I need to live in the present. And today, I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. 

What is the obsession with being right? Right and wrong is all relative to my own personal understanding. In Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes and life was chaos, to say the least. So, I can strive to get it right yet still be very wrong.

But God has fulfilled His promise to be there for me always, even when I get it wrong. I can get it wrong 7 times, I can get it wrong 70×7 times which is more maths than I can handle and He will still take me back (Matt. 18:22). So why do I need to be right?

I can be “right,” yet still filled with the same shame and despair. Fr Antony Paul once called the Pharisees the “super righteous, but lacking in heart.” These were the only ones that Christ rebuked – not those that came in sin – because they were righteous in their own eyes (1). Do I want to be right all the time or do I want to be righteous in the eyes of my Father? 

“A person may exhaust most of his income in pursuing such [worldly] activities. However, if a servant so much as looks at such things as the main source of mental diversion and spiritual comfort, they will instead trigger acute psychological anxiety. They will waste his time, deplete his health, dwindle his money, spoil his taste for prayer and spiritual activities, and weaken his resolve for repentance.”

Fr Matta El Meskeen

If I strive to be righteous for the sake of being right, I’m only going to pull myself further away from God. I can be achieving what I intended, but there will be a stark reality check when I see how far I have removed myself from Christ. A life of getting it right is a life of anxiety, but it is what we, as humans, have come to know and expect. To hunger and thirst for righteousness in the eyes of the Father is the spiritual height of blessing. To hunger and thirst as if my very existence depended on it.

It is no longer about getting it right but, God, I just want to know You more and more each day. I’m not going to get it right, but for as long as I am spending my days with You, then I know I’m going far. I have tasted the sweetness of Your grace and now, nothing else will satisfy. When I was searching for You at first, I couldn’t see You clearly but as I move closer and closer, You come into focus and my anxieties fade. My decisions become easier, I’m not striving to get it right but to get to know You and all else is secondary.

When I am stuck in my own selfish desires, I want to get it right on my own. But when I look to God, I empty my selfish desires before His Throne and He gives me His grace in return. My repentance is no longer, “God I messed up,” and stops there but, “God, the infinite and eternal, Creator of heaven and earth, I am in awe of You and Your love for humanity, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

Isaiah teaches us,

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” – Isaiah 55:2

It was as if Isaiah knew how we would react to the coronavirus pandemic. The immediate reaction was to start hoarding as many imperishable goods as possible. But why do we spend money on what is not bread? As in, why are we so fixated on more than our daily needs? It is good to plan but in remembrance of, “give us this day our daily bread,” sustain us for today and I know tomorrow is in Your Hands. Then I know my soul will delight in abundance.

It is in the hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake that God will work all things for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God will make good of even my biggest mistakes if I live to serve Him. I am satisfied in knowing He is in control, and in His control, my darkest of days with Him are still brighter than my brightest days without Him, for the Lord will perfect that which concerns me (Ps 138:8).

The confusion is all cured by one simple prayer: God, if it does not bring me closer to You, then I don’t want it. Although I may not know right from wrong in this lifetime, I will hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake, not so that I get the answers right, but so I am filled with You, and that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forevermore (Ps 23:6). 

(1) full sermon on praying with intent by Fr Antony Paul –  https://subspla.sh/2hwp6rx

The Meek

The Beatitudes Series Part 3

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth

by Rebecca Kozman

Picture this.

You’re sitting on a hill in the middle of a little village overlooking the Sea of Galilee, looking up at Christ on a mountain preaching something called the Beatitudes. You live in a time where there is no understanding of weakness or meekness. No, this is a time where there is more of an understanding of power, a world ruled over by Caesar’s. A world where armies made the people subject to their sheer force. This is a world that turns on the tables of power. This is a world where the powerful were the ones that “inherited the earth.”

So if you’re a villager, living in a time that only cares about power and authority, why should you even bother to care about Christ’s preaching? Why should you care about inheriting the earth if it only goes to the powerful? The message Christ shares regarding this beatitude is preached within a context. He’s not preaching to the rich and powerful, He’s not preaching to the people that had the ability to make a phone call to make something happen. He is preaching to villagers, a simple class of people.

Christ is saying to the simpletons, ‘If you’re a meek person, not only will you be happy, but you’ll have the type of life, the type of power, that transcends that of Caesar.’ Every time Jesus preaches a sermon, He’s not just preaching to our life in this world, He’s preaching to something greater. I don’t know about you, but I’m convinced that those who inherit the earth are sometimes those whose stories are never known on the earth. One day, when we’re standing in Heaven, don’t be surprised to find out that the little person sitting on the hill was the unlikely character God used to change history. 

So it all sounds nice and dandy to be meek so we can inherit the earth, but what does being ‘meek’ even look like? The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘meek’ as being quiet, gentle, without resentment. The Biblical understanding of being meek is best defined in Psalm 37. Let’s put together a portrait of a meek person using this allusive psalm;

Verse 5 tells us that a meek person puts their trust in God, trusting He will work for them when others oppose them with their authority.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Going into verse 7 we find that a meek person is still before God and waits patiently for Him.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Not only that, but they don’t fret themselves over the wicked who get in their way and they refrain from anger.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

9For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.

And finally, King David says, “The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (sound familiar?). If we backtrack and take a look at verse 9 it says, “Those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.” The portrait of meekness begins by trusting God. Then it commits its way to the Lord in His confidence, and it waits patiently and quietly, not giving way to anger when faced with opposition and power.

With this in mind, what effect does Jesus want this promise to have on the followers? He wants the promise to give them strength to continue in their meekness, that what is seen as weakness by the world is strength in the Lord. The promise of the inheritance of the earth to the meek was intended to strengthen the meek to endure when times get tough. The natural human inclination is to defend one’s self; fight for your rights. But there is blessing (i.e. beatitude) in the one that meekly refrains.

All things are yours, “whether Paul of Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 18-23). You don’t need the vain pleasures of this world because God has already made you an heir of the world. The quietness and openness and vulnerability of meekness is a very beautiful yet painful concept. It goes against all that we are by our sinful nature. It requires supernatural help. And that help is available, thank God!

Those who Mourn

The Beatitudes Series: Part 2

Blessed are the those who mourn for they shall be comforted

by Bethany Kaldas

Pain is nature’s way of telling us something is wrong. That’s generally how we see it.

Truer these days than ever before, suffering and discomfort are seen as some of the greatest enemies to humanity. In popular media we are constantly encouraged to be strong, be brave—they tell us we can beat the pain and injustice if we just try hard enough. If you do your best, you’ll win in the end.

To many people, in many instances, this is a comforting thought. Believing in yourself and having confidence in your own abilities can be the key to success in plenty of occasions. It’s why we tell our students to study hard and tell each other to persist in working for our dreams.

But the discomfort of, for example, not being promoted before your colleagues is one thing. The pain of losing a loved one is something else. The heartache of a broken family, the physical suffering of illness, the loneliness of rejection, the mental torture of anxiety or depression—these are not small wounds. These are deep fractures of heart, mind and body, and no amount of self-actualisation or personal determination is enough to heal them.

That’s a cheery message, right?

I’m not even being sarcastic (never try to be sarcastic in writing, it rarely comes through the way you intended). The inevitability of pain and suffering that we are inherently unable to conquer by our own will and power is something that our society fights tooth and nail. The majority of heroic tales displayed in media are dedicated to inspiring us against such pain.

But does God tell us the same thing?

In the Bible, there are plenty of instances of suffering—plenty. For now, let’s just take a look at one: the ‘thorn’ in Paul’s flesh. I’m not entirely sure what exactly this ‘thorn’ was, but whatever it was, it could not have been pleasant (he describes it as being something sent to him by Satan!). How does Paul react to this suffering? Well, he does what every Christian usually does when faced with something we don’t like: he asks God to take it away. Not once—three times. And how did God—the all-powerful, all-loving God—respond?

‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God doesn’t rescue Paul from his anguish. He doesn’t give Paul the power to save himself and tear this ‘thorn’ from his hurting flesh. He doesn’t even tell Paul that he can do it, that it’ll just be a bit longer, that if he just keeps trying, he can win over the pain. He tells him something we never like to admit when we’re suffering, and something we certainly don’t like to be told. He told Paul that he was weak. Paul—Saint Paul, the one whom the people stoned so badly they thought he was dead, but got back up again to keep preaching—the same Paul we all admire even to this day—was called weak.

And I hate to say it, but I honestly believe that God would tell each of us the same thing. We hate to admit it—to anyone, including ourselves. It is often when we tread the deepest regions of the valley of death that we refuse to tell anyone where we are.

‘Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.’

C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

It’s time we faced the facts. You’re not strong enough. You can’t do this. I know I’m killing the mantras of every Disney movie ever produced, but the consequences of not doing so, of not simply admitting that you aren’t capable of brute-forcing your way through your problems, that you can’t simply will your hardship away, are more dangerous than you might think. No, it’s time we realised that we were never strong enough to fight the pain away.

But it can’t stop there. Never stop there. Stagnating at an admission of weakness will only mire you in despair. But the truth is deeper than that. Because you’re not strong enough, it’s true. And you can’t do this, no doubt. But He can. And you were never alone, not for a single beat of your broken heart.

The perfect image of this is seen in the Crucifixion, and Kallistos Ware describes the relationship between our pain and that of Christ beautifully:

‘Christ’s suffering and death have, then, an objective value: he has done for us something we should be altogether incapable of doing without him. At the same time, we should not say that Christ has suffered “instead of us”, but rather that he has suffered on our behalf. The Son of God suffered “unto death”, not that we might exempt from suffering, but that our suffering might be like his. Christ has offered us, not a way round suffering, but a way through it; not substitution, but saving companionship.’

The Orthodox Way, Kallistos Ware

He is strong enough. He can do this. And sometimes it is only when we are broken, when we are forced to our knees, that we finally realise that we were never meant to do this alone. That is finally when we realise that our weakness is our greatest weapon. When we are weak, when we finally let down our guard and call out for aid from the only One who can, that is when He can work in us.

Don’t misunderstand me, though. I am not telling you that the solution to all your problems is ‘fast and pray.’ I don’t know how to solve your problem. I don’t even know that your problem can be solved, not in the way we might like. But these periods of suffering, however long they may be, should never be occasions for despair. Our weakness is not our downfall, it is not a tragedy forced upon us. It is an opportunity. The pain of His children is when they can be most like Him, when we most resemble the suffering God, bleeding out on a lonely cross. And that cross was not defeat—it was the greatest victory of all time.

It is in these moments, when we are hurting, when we are lonely, when we are broken, that we can truly say with Saint Paul:

‘Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am stron.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

The Poor in Spirit

The Beatitudes Series: Part 1

Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

by Karin Zaki

The beatitudes. We read them in Matthew 5 and pray them in the 6th hour of the Agpeya, but what do they actually mean to me? How do I become poor in spirit?

Let’s start off by defining the term ‘Beatitude.’ It comes from a Greek word ‘makariotita’ meaning blessedness. St Gregory of Nyssa teaches that,

“beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good, from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want.”

Now let’s explain the setting. In Matthew 5, Jesus is giving a sermon on the mountain presenting the life principles necessary to achieve a perfect Christian life. Rather than starting with a list of ‘do’s and don’ts,’ He begins to attract the people to the righteous way of living by revealing their eternal rewards. St Augustine says,

“As long as we love to see the rewards, we have to continue the struggle to attain them. Let us be kindled in our eager work to obtain them.”

So what does ‘poor in spirit’ actually mean?

Usually the poor have nothing of their own and constantly ask for assistance/aid. They are not ashamed to admit that they receive their simple sources of sustenance as gifts from others. Similarly, the poor in spirit have nothing of their own, God gifts all their talents, family, friends, community and spiritual/earthly wealth. It is when one comes to the realisation that without God, they are nothing. Simply put, it is to be, ‘humble and contrite in heart’ (St John Chrysostom).

We all know that the beginning of all sin is pride, acting according to our own personal will with complete disregard to God’s will, as Timothy says, “lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” (1 Tim 3:6)

Logically, the opposite of pride is humility, so why then use the term ‘poor in spirit’ and not ‘humble in spirit?’

St John Chrysostom in his Homily, beautifully explains that the term ‘poor’ means “awestruck, and tremble at the commandments of God,” as Isaiah states in chapter 66 verse 2, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” St John then goes to explain two types of humility; humility according to one’s own measure and humility with all “excess of lowliness.” The perfect example of this is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:10-14. Here St Luke pictures a man (the Pharisee) who is pleased with himself for complying by what he thinks are the ‘requirements’ of religion. He is proud of himself and humble in his own eyes only. Sadly, he has falsified what it means to be religious. He has reduced the understanding of a spiritual relationship with God to a mere checklist of external ‘religious’ actions, such as the amount of riches he gives to the temple, as a measure of his piety. On the other hand, the tax collector displays genuine humility and it is this act of “excess of lowliness” that justifies him before God. This second type is that which develops into spiritual poverty.

Unfortunately, the world we live in assumes that everyone can achieve anything by themselves and even portrays God as a gift bearer for one’s good deeds. Contrarily, display of humility be it in individual, communal or corporate situations is seen as a sign of weakness and a hindrance to reaching your maximum potential. In that way, we live in a society that constantly instils self-glorification and a sense of pride in us. It is therefore essential to always give thanks to God “on every occasion, in every condition and for all things,” for thanksgiving is the first step to humility since it is the realisation that all I do/don’t have is from God.

From an engineering perspective, the spirit is like a high-rise building. To reach the heavens, this building will need to be quite high and so would require a very deep and heavy foundation set in stable rock. This foundation is modesty and submission. If this modesty was taken away, despite how high the spiritual building has been built, it will collapse with quite deplorable consequences. This is captured in Proverbs 24:27 where it says, “Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house.” That is, first you need to prepare your ‘field’ by admitting your sense of pride and with prayer, earnestly working to thank God in all things submitting to His will. It is only when thanksgiving and humility in submission become an instinct to every situation, that your poverty in spirit continues to rise till it attains the kingdom of Heaven.

Glory be to God. Amen