The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Blessed be the Lord. Every spirit crushed, God will save; will be ransom for their lives; will be safe shelter for their fears, and will hear the cry of the poor. The Cry of the Poor, a hymn gleaned from the lines of Psalm 34, was penned by John Foley, S.J., in 1978. The melody is melancholy; almost haunting. The lyrics are deliberate and hopeful. Having heard this hymn within the context of the liturgy dozens of times, I am no less lifted by it's implied promise today than I was the first time I heard it.
Great post. I like the sentence which ends with; “ .....and yet you still feel empty”. Yet, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” There is an Orthodox St (St John Climacus - of the Ladder) who viewed the Beatitudes as a ladder. The first rung being spiritual poverty. Being poor is spirit is essential to our spiritual growth. The ladder is as follows in my words:
The first rung of the ladder, the primary Beatitude — “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Without poverty of spirit, none of us can begin to follow Christ. What does poverty of spirit mean? It is the realization that I cannot save myself. It is my awareness that I desperately need God’s help and mercy. It is stepping away from the rule of fear in one’s life, fear being the great force that restrains us from acts of love. Being poor in spirit means becoming free of the myth that possessing many things will make me a happier person.
The second rung — “Blessed are they who mourn.” Once I understand that I desperately need the Lord in my life. I mourn the loss. As I mourn that loss, I begin to directly seek the Lord in my life. There is a hole in my heart and until I God fills it, happiness is unattainable. By the way, some people fill that hole with other things (money, power, sex etc) but it is like plugging a hole with paper, it may last for a while but will ultimately frustrate you when it fails. This is the Beatitude of tears. Remember chapter 11, verse 35, of the Gospel of John: “Jesus wept.
The third rung — “Blessed are the meek.” In order to plug the hole in our heart we have to be meek. We have to be willing to yield control of our life to God. Being meek is not being week. Like the horse, we meekly submit control to the rider (God) who guides our way. I know I need the Lord, I mourn that loss, and now I yield control to him knowing I am powerless to receive happiness without Him.
The fourth rung — “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for that which is right.” As we yield control to God we receive the grace he gives and our response is, naturally; “Lord, I want more”. In the words of St Therese of Lisieux when offered a choice of gifts from God, “I want it all”. I hunger and thirst for God to make me right / righteous.
The fifth rung — “Blessed are the merciful.” I realize that I am poor in Spirit, I need God; I have therefore mourned the absence of God in my life; in meekness, I have handed control over to God and hunger and thirst for his greater presence having seen the mercy the Lord has shown to me. I am now awash in God’s mercy and as a result,I cannot help but being merciful.
The sixth rung — “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Having received God so intimately through the last five rungs, I cannot help but receive a pure heart. What is a pure heart? A heart free of possessiveness, a heart able to feel the sorrow, a heart that thirsts for what is right, a heart that is not vengeful but seeks mercy naturally. We see a pure heart in the face of any saintly person. They have a heart that recognizes what God has given to me and wishes now to eliminate all that distracts us from God.
The seventh rung — “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Only after ascending the first six rungs of the ladder of the Beatitudes can we talk about the Beatitude of the peacemaker, for only a person with a pure heart can help, in God’s mercy, to rebuild broken bridges and pull down walls, to help us recover our lost unity. The maker of peace must be a person who seeks nothing for himself, not even recognition. Such a person does not even regard his actions as “good deeds.” They simply are the consequence of having been drawn more deeply into God’s love. Because of this, such a person cannot help but see others, even the most unpleasant or dangerous person, as a child of God, someone beloved of God, someone made in the image of God.
Finally, the eighth rung — “Blessed are they who suffer persecution” — the Beatitude of the persecuted. We are reminded that we shouldn’t expect or even want to win a peace prize for following Christ. When we live a life devoted to Christ, the world will reject us as it also rejected Christ. Why? Because our hearts find very little in this world attractive. In fact, just the opposite, we are members of heaven, foreigners in a foreign land. We seek our true homeland, heaven. The world will always react against this ... but rejoice and be glad, for your reward is in heaven. The eighth rung is also reminiscent of the eight day. On the eighth day from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem Jesus was resurrected and the new creation begun ... a life of grace for humanity. With the eighth rung we are fully alive and at the height of beatitude, joy.
Great post. I like the sentence which ends with; “ .....and yet you still feel empty”. Yet, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” There is an Orthodox St (St John Climacus - of the Ladder) who viewed the Beatitudes as a ladder. The first rung being spiritual poverty. Being poor is spirit is essential to our spiritual growth. The ladder is as follows in my words:
The first rung of the ladder, the primary Beatitude — “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Without poverty of spirit, none of us can begin to follow Christ. What does poverty of spirit mean? It is the realization that I cannot save myself. It is my awareness that I desperately need God’s help and mercy. It is stepping away from the rule of fear in one’s life, fear being the great force that restrains us from acts of love. Being poor in spirit means becoming free of the myth that possessing many things will make me a happier person.
The second rung — “Blessed are they who mourn.” Once I understand that I desperately need the Lord in my life. I mourn the loss. As I mourn that loss, I begin to directly seek the Lord in my life. There is a hole in my heart and until I God fills it, happiness is unattainable. By the way, some people fill that hole with other things (money, power, sex etc) but it is like plugging a hole with paper, it may last for a while but will ultimately frustrate you when it fails. This is the Beatitude of tears. Remember chapter 11, verse 35, of the Gospel of John: “Jesus wept.
The third rung — “Blessed are the meek.” In order to plug the hole in our heart we have to be meek. We have to be willing to yield control of our life to God. Being meek is not being week. Like the horse, we meekly submit control to the rider (God) who guides our way. I know I need the Lord, I mourn that loss, and now I yield control to him knowing I am powerless to receive happiness without Him.
The fourth rung — “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for that which is right.” As we yield control to God we receive the grace he gives and our response is, naturally; “Lord, I want more”. In the words of St Therese of Lisieux when offered a choice of gifts from God, “I want it all”. I hunger and thirst for God to make me right / righteous.
The fifth rung — “Blessed are the merciful.” I realize that I am poor in Spirit, I need God; I have therefore mourned the absence of God in my life; in meekness, I have handed control over to God and hunger and thirst for his greater presence having seen the mercy the Lord has shown to me. I am now awash in God’s mercy and as a result,I cannot help but being merciful.
The sixth rung — “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Having received God so intimately through the last five rungs, I cannot help but receive a pure heart. What is a pure heart? A heart free of possessiveness, a heart able to feel the sorrow, a heart that thirsts for what is right, a heart that is not vengeful but seeks mercy naturally. We see a pure heart in the face of any saintly person. They have a heart that recognizes what God has given to me and wishes now to eliminate all that distracts us from God.
The seventh rung — “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Only after ascending the first six rungs of the ladder of the Beatitudes can we talk about the Beatitude of the peacemaker, for only a person with a pure heart can help, in God’s mercy, to rebuild broken bridges and pull down walls, to help us recover our lost unity. The maker of peace must be a person who seeks nothing for himself, not even recognition. Such a person does not even regard his actions as “good deeds.” They simply are the consequence of having been drawn more deeply into God’s love. Because of this, such a person cannot help but see others, even the most unpleasant or dangerous person, as a child of God, someone beloved of God, someone made in the image of God.
Finally, the eighth rung — “Blessed are they who suffer persecution” — the Beatitude of the persecuted. We are reminded that we shouldn’t expect or even want to win a peace prize for following Christ. When we live a life devoted to Christ, the world will reject us as it also rejected Christ. Why? Because our hearts find very little in this world attractive. In fact, just the opposite, we are members of heaven, foreigners in a foreign land. We seek our true homeland, heaven. The world will always react against this ... but rejoice and be glad, for your reward is in heaven. The eighth rung is also reminiscent of the eight day. On the eighth day from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem Jesus was resurrected and the new creation begun ... a life of grace for humanity. With the eighth rung we are fully alive and at the height of beatitude, joy.
God Bless, Great post
I am with Melissa - what a powerful and moving word of Truth. Thank you!