Pope reflects on poverty of spirit

January 30, 2017

Pope Francis described the Beatitudes as the “Magna Carta of the New Testament” during his January 29 Sunday Angelus address.

Reflecting on the first Beatitude—“blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”—Pope Francis told the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square that “the happiness of the poor, of the poor in spirit, has a twofold dimension: in relation to goods and in relation to God.”

“In regard to goods, to material goods, this poverty in spirit is sobriety: not necessarily renunciation, but the capacity to enjoy the essential, to share; the capacity to renew every day the wonder of the goodness of things, without being weighed down in the opacity of voracious consumption,” the Pope explained.

The Pope continued:

In relations with God, it is praise and gratitude that the world is a blessing and that at its origin is the creative love of the Father. But it is also openness to Him, docility to His lordship: He is the Lord; He is the Great One.

“May the Virgin Mary, model and first fruit of the poor in spirit because totally docile to the Lord’s will, help us to abandon ourselves to God, rich in mercy, so that He will fill us with His gifts, especially the abundance of His forgiveness,” Pope Francis concluded.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Le parole del Papa alla recita dell’Angelus, 29.01.2017 (Holy See Press Office)
• Angelus Address: On the Beatitudes (Zenit)