"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
- MT 5:3
The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor and lowly, which means
those who have
accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good
news to the poor"; he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the
kingdom of heaven." To them - the "little ones" the Father is
pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the
learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to
the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. Jesus
identifies himself with the poor of every kind...
(CCC
#544)
" When we serve the poor and the sick, we serve Jesus. We must
not fail to help our neighbors, because in them we serve Jesus.
" - St. Rose of Lima
Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes
to us above all through the blood of his cross but this mystery
is at work throughout Christ's entire life: -already in his
Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with
his poverty; - in his hidden life which by his submission atones
for our disobedience; - in his word
which purifies its hearers;- in his healings and exorcisms by
which "he took our infirmities and bore our diseases"; - and in
his Resurrection by which he justifies us. (CCC #517)
I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true
head, and
that you are one of his members. He belongs to you as the head
belongs to
its members; all that is his is yours: his spirit, his heart,
his body and
soul, and all his faculties. You must make use of all these as
of your
own, to serve, praise, love, and glorify God. You belong to him,
as
members belong to their head. And so he longs for you to use all
that is
in you, as if it were his own, for the service and glory of the
Father.
- St. John Eudes, Tract. de admirabili corde Jesu, 1, 5 |
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