4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit 1
A commentary by Symeon the New Theologian

When holy Scripture is being read we should look at ourselves as though in a
mirror and consider our state of soul. Let me explain what I mean. We hear the
Lord saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This must make us always examine and test ourselves whenever we suffer
humiliation, whenever we are insulted, dishonored, and treated with contempt, to
see whether or not we possess the virtue of humility. A person who has it bears
everything without feeling hurt or taking offense. His heart is not wounded by
anything that happens to him. If he is slightly wounded he is not completely upset;
on the contrary, because of that heart wound, simply for having been slightly pained
instead of accepting what happened with joy, he is distressed and thinks himself
despicable, he grieves and weeps. Withdrawing into the inner chamber of his soul
or his cell, he falls down before God and confesses to him as though he had
completely forfeited eternal life.

Then again we hear: Blessed are those who mourn. Notice that the Lord does
not say those who have mourned, but those who continually mourn. Concerning
this too, then, we must examine ourselves to see whether we mourn every day, for if
we have been made humble by repentance, obviously we shall not pass a single day
or night without tears, without mourning, and without compunction.

And again: Blessed are the gentle. Can anyone who mourns every day
continue to live in a state of anger and not become gentle? Just as water
extinguishes a blazing fire, so mourning and tears extinguish anger in the soul so
completely that a person who had long been given over to it sees his irascible
disposition transformed into perfect serenity.

Again we hear: Blessed are the merciful. Who, then, are the merciful? Those
who give away their possessions or who feed the poor? No. Then who are they?
Those who have become poor for the sake of him who became poor for our sake,
those who have nothing to give, but who in a spiritual way are always mindful of the
poor, the widows, the orphans, and the sick. Seeing them frequently, they have
compassion on them and shed burning tears over them. Such was Job, who said: I
wept over every infirmity. When they have anything they cheerfully give alms to
them, as well as ungrudgingly reminding all of how they can save their souls, thus
obeying the one who said: What I learned with pure intention I pass on without
grudging. These are the ones the Lord calls blessed, the ones who are truly
merciful, for such mercy is like a step by which they ascend to attain perfect purity
of heart.

In virtue of this God then proclaims the pure of heart blessed, saying: Blessed
are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. The purified soul sees God in
everything and is reconciled to him. Peace is established between God our creator
and the soul, his erstwhile enemy, and it is then called blessed by God for being a
peacemaker: Blessed are the peacemakers, he says, for they shall be called children
of God.

1 Journey with the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels Year A. Ed. Edith Barnecut, O.S.B. New
York: New City Press, 1992. 84-85.