Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God!
The most generous people I know and have witnessed are the poor or those who have experienced poverty. They share with joy and freely from what little they have as if they they share out of their abundance. They know not for certain when their next meal will be, they only know that their brethren not necessarily of blood is together with them and for that they rejoice. Another day to live in God’s grace they might say. Truly the Lord our God is closest to the poor and the poor in spirit. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?” Mark 8:36
When we are humble, hungry and thirsting after the Lord our God to fill our spiritual emptiness and poverty. To know that we need His wisdom, His healing grace and strength upon us, only then are we fully united with Him. We not only embrace our sufferings but seek to unite them with His for the redemption of the world. Every little suffering or sacrifice is an opportunity to draw closer to Him for us, our loved ones and our neighbour.
Lord Jesus, show us Your way, Your truth and life and we will follow. Amen
First reading
James 2:1-9 ·
God chose the poor but you do not respect them
My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into witnessed synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. In spite of this, you have no respect for anybody who is poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you? Isn’t it always their doing when you are dragged before the court? Aren’t they the ones who insult the honourable name to which you have been dedicated? Well, the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbour as yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.
Gospel
Mark 8:27-33
The way you think is not God’s way, but man’s
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
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