Episode Transcript  

One

Beatitude means Happiness

We are beginning a series on the most important body of the teachings of Jesus contained in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters five, six, and seven. Jesus begins his teaching by giving us a clear plan to get what all people want. What do all people want? Happiness. Beatitude means happiness.

So here is God’s eight-step plan for true happiness. Learn to be: Poor in spirit, meek, mourn, hunger and thirst for righteousness. Be merciful, pure of heart, peacemakers. Finally, accept being persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

Now, the real issue is: what do each of these really mean and how do I live them concretely? We are going to take one each day. Today, how to be poor in spirit.

Two

Pride

Both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas say that to be poor in spirit is to be humble. But a true understanding of humility can be hard to grasp. So, let’s begin with its opposite, the vice of pride.

Pride is every way I put myself in the place of God. Pride is trying to carry the world on my shoulders, as if I were Atlas. Instead of receiving my identity, worth, happiness, security, and peace from God, I try to create them myself through my achievements, possessions, relationships, or control.

Pride usually takes two forms. First, I try to dominate, control, use, or discard others to get what I want. Second, I live as if everything depends on me. I take responsibility for things that belong to God and carry burdens He never intended me to carry. This leads to anxiety, worry, overwhelm, and burnout. If you worry, then you suffer from pride. Then, to escape the stress of trying to play God, I often turn to self-destructive ways of coping—such as anger, comfort, pleasure, endless distraction, alcohol, drugs, sex, or entertainment.

Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility is letting God be God and trusting Him with what only He can do. It is putting the world back on God's shoulders, where it belongs.

Three

Humility

Humility is living in the truth about myself. The humble person neither exaggerates nor diminishes himself. He sees himself as he really is before God. Humility has two parts: I have limitations, and I have gifts. First, the humble person knows he is not God and does not try to live as if he were. Jesus said to St. Catherine of Siena, "I am He who is; you are she who is not." Apart from God, I am nothing. I depend on Him for everything: my existence, my abilities, every grace, every breath. I am not God.

Therefore, I should accept my limitations. I should accept the limited scope of my responsibility and control. My part is to do faithfully what God has entrusted to me: to care for myself, my family, and those under my direct responsibility. I should not worry but trust God to take care of the rest. As St. Paul says, we should be filled with joyful trust in God.

Humility is putting the world back on God's shoulders, where it belongs.

Four

Gifts from God

The second part of humility is that I have gifts. By Baptism, God dwells within me, and I share in His divine nature as His son or daughter. I am an adopted child of God, the King of the Universe. God has called me to reign with Him forever. That is my dignity.

So humility does not mean thinking poorly of myself. It does not mean being passive, timid, or acting like a doormat. Humility means living according to the truth. And the truth is: I am a son or daughter of God. Therefore, I should act with dignity. I should be confident, courageous, and bold in doing the good God gives me to do.

I also have human gifts and talents that God has entrusted to me. Humility does not bury those talents. Humility receives them from God, develops them to their fullest, and uses them for the good of others. So humility holds both truths together: I have limitations, and I have gifts. I am not God, but I am a child of God. I should not try to carry the world on my shoulders, but I should faithfully use everything God has given me for His glory and the good of others.

Five

What is on your plate?

I was having supper with a friend in Poland who owns a business. Because of the war nearby and the economic uncertainty, he was carrying a tremendous amount of worry. Much of what concerned him was completely beyond his control. As we sat at the table, I looked at his dinner plate and said, "God has put on your plate a very limited number of things that He wants you to be responsible for: yourself, your family, your business, and the people entrusted to your care. That's about it. Everything else is on God's plate."

The next day he told me that this idea had lifted a tremendous burden from him. He even shared it with his sons. This is what it means to be poor in spirit. Know what is on your plate and what is on God's plate. The trouble begins when we start taking things off God's plate and putting them on ours.

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