“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’”
Jesus, seeing the crowds, leads those who are willing to follow to a high, difficult place, that He may show them even more than they had previously received. In the book of Exodus, when Moses goes to Mount Sinai, most of the people stay at the bottom of the mountain, a few chosen come up halfway, but it is Moses alone that enters the fire of God’s presence to speak with Him face to face. Those who are content with an acceptance of Jesus and staying out of mortal sin remain in His chosen people, but do not climb the mountain. Those that love Him, but desire His delights and therefore love Him for themselves, go up halfway, doing much to console His heart, but not entering the crucible atop the mountain. No, it is in the fire, to step with Jesus into the way of the cross, that one truly experiences the unbelievable depths of His love. Therefore, dear Theophila, let Him lead you far up the mountain: “Know you not that they that run in the race all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24), resisting Him in nothing, but be drawn high into His merciful love, a way of trials, affliction, self-abasement, and love. The mountain can also be interpreted as piercing the heavens, for to remain on earth is to keep one’s conversation about earthly things, but to fall in love is to speak about the beloved constantly, that all your conversation may be spiritual: “”Let the thought of God be in thy mind, and all thy discourse on the commandments of the Highest” (Ecclesiasticus 9:23). Finally, the ascent of the mountain could show that the Old Law weighed down Israel with a spirit of fear, but by love you may run up a higher way, the way of love rather than of strict rule-following: “Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (Song 1:3). He sits down as a Divine Master with His people, and He that opened the mouths of the prophets opens His own mouth, that you may hear the ways of the Lord not through an intermediary, but from the Lord Himself. If you want to hear the voice of Jesus, read His words. The knowledge of angels is in your hands, and through this book the Holy Spirit speaks to you. His love letter is open to you, if you will simply open it and listen with an attentive heart. Let Him pour Himself out to you, that you may be a sanctuary for His Sacred Heart: “My beloved put his hand through the key hole” of your heart with His loving words, “and my bowels were moved at his touch” (Song 5:4), that is the depth of your desire moved to Him alone, because His words are all you need to live a life of love: “Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3). He then gives the first of the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed are you, o little soul, that are dispossessed of all that is not God, ignoring yourself, ignoring the world, ignoring distractions, with your every thought being on the love of God. O romance most sweet! O friendship most friendly! O life most alive! What lover can pull his mind away from his beloved, and o how Jesus looks at you at all times with holy longing: “Lord thou hast proved me, and known me: thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. And thou hast foreseen all my ways” (Psalm 138:1-4). So too is it blessed to be poor of all else, with the treasure of one’s heart entirely invested in Jesus. This poverty is not a beating down and thievery of what else you possess, but in being filled with love: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to god” (Hebrews 13:15). A spirit that is truly poor is the one that feels nothing, that has moved past the pleasurable feelings of the love of God, and loves Him for His own sake, for the love He is, and gives itself entirely to Him because it is so in love. Ah, what beauty it is to be reduced to nothing, stripped of everything, and upheld solely by love. It is the word in the darkness that reassures you of love, that proves that “the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). Reaching the depths of poverty, when there is nothing to hold onto but the faith that God still loves you, and you still love God, there Jesus looks with compassion and says, “O woman, great is thy faith” (Matthew 15:28), and gives you the kingdom of His love in droves. “Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom” (Luke 12:32). No matter how dark, how desolate, how difficult, how painful things may seem, know that you are bound to your Head with love. Always believe in love.