Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit: A Retreat Guide on the First Beatitude

The Sermon on the Mount is St. Matthew’s summary of Christ’s preaching, of the New Law Jesus gives us from this mountain of the New Testament, just as Moses gave his people the Old Law on Mt. Sinai.

This New Law begins with the Beatitudes, the summary of the summary of Christ’s teaching. The Beatitudes offer a portrait of Christian life. And the first characteristic of that portrait is this: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). What does being “poor in spirit” really mean? What does it mean for you and me in today’s world? It’s worth digging into those questions, because we all ardently desire to inherit the kingdom of heaven, to enter into the fullness of life that comes from living in perfect communion with God. And digging into those questions is exactly what this Retreat Guide will do:

- The First Meditation explores the meaning of the words and how that meaning is clarified by Christ’s own life, and by other biblical passages.
- The Second Meditation explores what this beatitude looked like in the life of one of history’s most well known saints.
- The Conference gets practical by showing how we can grow in the virtues required by poverty of spirit.

The Personal Questionnaire/Group discussion questions and the full text are available in the Companion Guide Book. The Small Group Companion Guide has the questions and quotations. Either download the PDF Companion Guide Book or purchase it. The Companion Guide Book is available for purchase as a paperback at Amazon. Pause the video at any moment to go to the Companion Guide Book or continue to the next meditation.

Introduction

Meditations

Conference