The Beatitudes tell us of the upside-down kingdom! The Beatitudes do not affirm a life of wealth, prestige, or honors. The Beatitudes mark a life contrary to what the world wants us to be.

Matthew tells us that Jesus goes up the mountain to teach his Beatitudes. He is like Moses, who came down from Mount Sinai to give God’s people the Ten Commandments. Jesus is on the mountain, giving us a way of life that fulfills an obedient life to God. Life in God is a blessed life.

Does blessed mean happy? Not necessarily. Happiness is a combination of positive emotions such as joy and contentment. Happiness is about satisfaction in life and a sense of meaning or purpose. To be blessed goes deeper than happiness. Blessed means that we understand our identity in God. God is the source of our purpose, our joy, and our future. No matter what misfortunes come in life, if we are centered on God, we are secure, and nothing can shake our faith.

Let’s look at the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.

Those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and those persecuted in the name of Christ will all rejoice. These are very clear dispositions in the Christian life. Throughout my young adult life, I’ve been curious about the first Beatitude. What does Jesus mean when he says we must be poor in spirit? Does that imply our faith must be weak and not secure? Does it mean being passive-aggressive toward spiritual matters?

The popes have consistently taught the idea of being poor in spirit.

Pope Saint John Paul II taught us that being poor in spirit is a mark of a disciple who “receives the Kingdom with all their hearts.” They are receptive to the kingdom of God because they are open to truth and grace and reject the wealth of the world as the root of their happiness.

In the Philippines, he told us that:

Being poor in spirit does not mean being unconcerned with the problems that beset the community… Poor in spirit is the rich man who does not close [his] heart, but faces up to the intolerable situations that perpetuate the poverty and misery of the many… Poor in spirit is the one who holds political power and remembers that it is given for the common good only.

The poor in spirit have the responsibility to care for others, which is the core program of the Christian life. The poor in spirit have a heart completely open to serving the poor and facing the evils of this world.

Pope Benedict XVI pointed us to Saint Francis of Assisi as the model of being poor in spirit. Francis possessed the “luminous fulfillment” of this Beatitude. Pope Benedict XVI said:

The witness of Francis, who loved poverty as a means to follow Christ with dedication and total freedom, continues to be for us too an invitation to cultivate interior poverty in order to grow in our trust of God, also by adopting a sober lifestyle and a detachment from material goods.

To be poor in spirit means to have the interior freedom to completely love God and, at the same time, not be attached to worldly things so that our hearts are grafted into the heart of God.

Pope Francis reminded us that to be poor in spirit is about humility. Poor in spirit is the base of all the other beatitudes. We must practice humility. Humility is the great antagonist against pride and arrogance. Humility is the gateway to a virtuous life.

The popes of our recent history have reminded us that the poor in spirit are those who have an open heart for the kingdom, which allows them to fight the injustices of the world, they have an interior freedom for God, and practice humility. Mountains are places in the Old Testament where we meet God. Let us ascend the mountain of our hearts and meet our loving God, who calls us to be poor in spirit, who calls us to be blessed. This is the mark of the kingdom of God.