Holy Hour for Peace - February 2026

 

Earlier this month, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, requested that Catholics gather for a holy hour this month to pray for renewal in the United States and in people’s hearts in the midst of the “current climate of fear and polarization”.

Bishop Malesic echoed this request and asked that each parish hold a holy hour for peace. So, we gather before the Blessed Sacrament seeking peace at its source — in Jesus Christ.

 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

St. James reminds us in the first reading that violence, disorder, and division come from within: from jealousy, selfish ambition, and bitterness. These things tear apart families, communities, and nations. Peace is not built first by treaties or policies, but by conversion of heart.

Pope St. John Paul II taught, as we will hear later in this holy hour, the Eucharist forms us into a people capable of building a more human and peaceful world. In our encounter with the one who IS peace—Jesus Christ—in opening our hearts to him, bringing to him our divisions and strife—and the disorders in our own hearts—we find healing and conversion.

“As we kneel before the Lord, we certainly bring to him all the needs of our nation and our world — to help us work through our polarization — knowing that true unity cannot be forced from the outside, but must grow from hearts united to Christ. Here in the Eucharist, the Lord draws us into communion with himself and with one another, forming us into a people capable of reconciliation and peace.

The Lord invites each of us to ask: Where is there division in my own heart? Where do resentment, anger, hatred, or fear still remain? The peace of Christ comes to dwell in those who allow Christ overcome these things in their own hearts.

Working for peace and justice can also take a toll on us. We know from experience how easy it is to become discouraged — to grow weary when progress seems slow, when divisions remain, or when efforts to do good are misunderstood or rejected. Even sincere efforts for justice can leave us drained, frustrated, or tempted toward bitterness. Without a deeper source of strength, the work of peace can exhaust the human heart.

But the Lord does not ask us to carry this burden alone. In the Eucharist we encounter the One who gave himself completely for the life of the world. Here we come not as activists relying on our own strength, but as disciples who receive strength from him. In his presence we are reminded that the work of peace is first God's work before it is ours. He is the one who heals hearts, reconciles enemies, and renews the world — often in quiet and hidden ways that we may not immediately see.

Before the Blessed Sacrament, we learn again the patience of Christ. We learn that peace grows slowly, like a seed planted in the soil, often unseen at first but destined to bear fruit. The Lord calms our anxieties, steadies our hearts, and restores the hope that allows us to continue the work he has entrusted to us.

And so this holy hour is not a pause from the work of peace, but part of the work itself. By coming into the presence of Christ, we allow him to renew our charity, purify our intentions, and strengthen our resolve. Refreshed by his grace, we engage with our families, our workplaces, not with resentment or fatigue, but with the quiet strength that comes from knowing that his grace is already at work in the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

Friday after Ash Wednesday 2026 - Conversion leads to Divine Intimacy

 

On this First Friday of Lent, we are immediately challenged by God’s word to ensure that our Lenten penances are rightly ordered.

In our reading from the prophet Isaiah, God says something startling.

The people are fasting. They are bowing their heads. They are wearing sackcloth. They are afflicting themselves. And yet God says: “You fast, but I do not see it.” Why? Because their penances have not changed their hearts. The people were performing religious acts. They are keeping the ritual. They are technically doing what is required. But at the same time: They continued to exploit their workers. They quarreled and fought with each other. They pursued their own interests. They neglected the poor.

Their penance were simply external. Their hearts remained untouched, unmoved, unconverted.

This is one of the central temptations of Lent: to reduce penance to religious performance: Give something up. Eat less. Pray a bit more. Check the box.

But Isaiah reminds us: God is not impressed by religious theater. He wants conversion. “This is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, setting free the oppressed, sharing your bread with the hungry, clothing the naked, not turning your back on your own.”

Notice the movement. True penance loosens the grip of selfishness and turns the heart outward in mercy.

When we fast properly, selfishness diminishes—our ego, our pride, our attachment, our indifference diminishes—in order to give way to charity—to that of the Lord’s own heart

If Lent does not conform our hearts more closely to His—if our fasting does not make us more patient, more merciful, more generous—then we are bowing our heads like reeds while our hearts remain stiff.

Our Isaiah read ends with a powerful promise. If you allow your heart to be converted, if you allow selfishness to be transformed into charity—then you will know the closeness of God: “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!”

What a beautiful promise that reminds us that the purpose of Lent is union with God.
Lent is not about impressing God. It is about removing the obstacles that prevent us from allowing his life to flow through us. Interior conversion leads to active charity which leads to divine intimacy.

Lord, may our Lenten penances soften our hearts, detach us from selfishness, move us to charity, and unite us more closely to you, for the Glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Trusting in the Lord, we call upon Him with sincere hearts.

For the Church throughout the world: that during this holy season of Lent her fasting, prayer, and almsgiving may bear fruit in true conversion and works of mercy.

For the Holy Father, bishops, and priests: that their lives may reflect the charity of the Sacred Heart and lead God’s people to authentic repentance and deeper union with Christ.

For civil leaders and all who exercise authority: that they may release those bound unjustly, defend the oppressed, and govern with justice and compassion.

For the poor, the hungry, the infirmed, the homeless, and those who suffer injustice: that our Lenten sacrifices may translate into concrete charity and real assistance for those in need.

For our parish community: that our fasting may soften our hearts, diminish selfishness, and make us more patient, merciful, and generous toward one another.

For those who struggle to repent or who feel distant from God: that they may experience the Lord’s promise of closeness.

For the faithful departed: that purified of every attachment to sin, they may rejoice forever in the fullness of divine charity. We pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, you desire mercy and not empty show. Purify our hearts this Lent and hear the prayers we offer with confidence through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Ash Wednesday 2026 - Listening, Fasting, Community

Last Week, Holy Father Pope Leo issued a message to the Church for this Lent 2026. 

He said, “Lent is a time in which the Church…invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life.”

Many of us know well how easy it is to lose sight of God. Work, social standing, anxiety over health, money, or relationships, pastimes like sports and video games, can obscure the place that God is meant to have in our lives. And Lent, as the Holy Father says, invites us to place God back at the center.

To do so, the Pope goes on to explain that we do three things: Firstly, listening. Lent is about listening to God, to God’s voice, to the word of God. God is speaking to us in 2026, are we listening? 

We are deluding ourselves if we think it is good to go through the day without listening to God. To quote Jesus himself when he was 40 days in the desert, “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” We need to listen to God’s word for guidance, for the wisdom we need to make hard choices, and to hear those personal messages of love that God has for each of us.

Every day during Lent, we need to spend some time to listen to God’s Word, reading a little passage from the Bible, and considering what God is saying to us in our present circumstances, in the concrete details of our life.

[Teachers: try to incorporate the daily mass readings in your lessons. Parents, do the same in the life of the home. Have you read and thought about your scripture passage today?] 

Secondly, in his Lenten message, Pope Leo tells us to fast. Our Lord himself fasted in the desert and taught his disciples to fast. Abstaining from food, helps us to keep our hunger and thirst for righteousness alive. Physical hunger can be a powerful reminder of our need to pray and to seek God. It reminds us, too, of the hunger of the poor, towards whom we should have a special care during the Lenten season.

Lastly, the Pope reminds us that we are in this together, that the members of the Church, the members of the Body of Christ, observe Lent, together. Lent is a season for the whole church, to pray, fast, give alms, to listen to God together. 

During Lent we come to church more often to engage in communal prayer, like for daily mass, for stations of the cross, for holy hours and confessions, because Lent is a shared journey—the shared journey of the Church toward Easter.

During Lent, the whole church, together, prays in a special way for will soon be joining our company—the catechumens preparing for the easter sacraments—who will enter into full communion with the Church at easter. We pray and fast for them, mindful of the good example we are to set for them and the encouragement we are to offer them in pursuing holiness.

This weekend we will offer a Holy Hour for peace in our trouble world from 2pm to 3pm here in Church, a wonderful opportunity to pray together, to seek peace together, to implore God’s healing and justice together. We will also pray the stations of the cross each Friday at 7:30pm—a beloved and time-honored tradition of walking with Jesus as he carried his cross and suffered and died out of love for us. Stations of the cross are a powerful devotion which helps us listen to the voice of God’s love.

In just a few moments we will have ashes imposed on our foreheads. These ashes are a reminder of our mortality and sin, for from dust we were made and because of sin to dust we will return. By reminding us of mortality and sin, they more importantly remind us of our need for salvation, our need for God, our need for Jesus. For each of us facing our mortality sooner or later, recognize that Eternal Life is found in Jesus Christ alone, and we are called to believe in Him, love Him, and follow Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

May these ashes, together with our Lenten penances, help us to seek that fullness of life that only comes through intimate union with Jesus Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

February 11, 2026 - Our Lady of Lourdes (School Mass) - Miracles flow when we listen to Mary

 

168 years ago today, the Blessed Virgin Mary began appearing to a poor peasant girl in a small village called Lourdes in France. The poor peasant girl’s name was Bernadette. Bernadette was 14 years old. She was poor. She was not a strong student. She had asthma and was often sick.

One day, while gathering firewood near a rocky cave called the Grotto of Massabielle, Bernadette saw something amazing. She saw a beautiful Lady dressed in white with a blue sash and golden roses at her feet.

The beautiful Lady was the Blessed Virgin Mary. From February 10 to July 15, 1858, Mary appeared to Bernadette 18 times. Mary didn’t give long speeches. Rather, Mary told Bernadette to do simple things: Pray, especially pray the Rosary, and to do penance for sinners.

Furthermore, the Virgin Mary requested that a chapel be built at the grotto so that people could come there in procession.

During the ninth apparition, on February 25, 1858. Mary instructed Bernadette to “go, drink at the spring and wash yourself there.” Bernadette, seeing no spring, instinctively dug with her hands in the muddy ground. Soon, clear water began to flow, and this spring has never ceased.

Over the last 168 years, millions of people each year have made pilgrimage to Lourdes, to the miraculous spring there, to wash in those waters, for it has become a place of countless miraculous healings. People who are sick and crippled and even dying have been miraculously healed there at Lourdes. Many more have received peace, consolation, strength, and renewal of faith.

In the Gospel today, we read the story of the wedding feast at Cana, when Jesus performed the miracle of changing water into wine. And notice, Mary was part of the story. Mary was paying attention to the needs of the wedding party. She detected that they had run out of wine and brought that need to Jesus. Mary then directs the servants of the wedding party to bring the jars of water to Jesus. “Do whatever he tells you.” And because they listened to Mary, they became witnesses of the miracle of Jesus and benefited from it.

When we listen to Mary, and does as she tells us, God works miracles. Lourdes is proof of that. Real miracles—miraculous healings—miraculous renewals of faith—occur every year at Lourdes. But not just Lourdes: those who take seriously Our Lady’s message—to pray the rosary and do penance for sinners—we see God doing amazing things all the time.

You don’t have to be Catholic to pray the rosary and you don’t have to be Catholic to do penance for sinners—penance like fasting, abstaining from meat or dessert or video games regularly. But if you do, I promise, you will begin to see God doing amazing things in your families and in your community. You will know peace and strength like you’ve never known.

May Lourdes continue to be a source of faith and healing for the Church, may it inspire us to turn to Mary as the heavenly helper God has made her for us. For Mary always helps us to follow Jesus more closely and to love Jesus more deeply for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - -  

Trusting in God’s mercy and in the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us bring our prayers before the Lord.

For the Church throughout the world: that she may continue to proclaim Christ boldly and lead many people to the waters of salvation.

For those who do not yet know Jesus or who have wandered away from Him: that Mary may gently lead them the healing waters of Christ.

For those who are sick, suffering, or discouraged, especially members of our school families: that through Mary’s intercession they may receive comfort, strength, and hope.

For all who have died, especially those who suffered greatly in this life: that they may now share in the joy of heaven.

Priest: Heavenly Father, you gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a loving mother and helper. Hear these prayers we offer with confidence, through Christ our Lord.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Salt

 

I remember as a kid, my dad telling stories about working in the salt mines under Lake Erie when he was a younger man.  Morton Salt has about 3 miles of salt mines 2000 feet underneath our great lake.  . This salt is an important source of revenue for the State of Ohio, and the salt is utilized in a number of ways: particularly as a seasoning for our food and on our roads during the winter. With 3 miles of salt mines, it kind of makes you wonder why we supposedly have a winter salt shortage this year. But I degress.

Immediately following the Lord’s teaching on the beatitudes, which we heard last Sunday, the Lord says that his disciples must become like salt. Talk about bringing us down to earth. In order to attain heaven, you must become like salt.

Salt was used in a number of ways in Jesus’ time, just as it is for us. And those different ways salt is used can certainly help us to understand what Our Lord meant when he told us to become like salt.

First salt is used as a seasoning. So, too, Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.  There is nothing more interesting—no one more full of life than a true Christian saint filled with the life of Christ. The saints are the best season we can imagine, and we must become like them. Do you know the names of any famous athletes, actors, businessmen, or politicians from the 13^th century? But we certainly remember names like Francis, Clare, Dominic, Anthony of Padua, Elizabeth of Hungary, Hedwig, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Raymond of Penafort, Albert the Great. So why would we want to be like athletes and actors? Strive to be truly remembered for your holiness, for seasoning people’s lives with the goodness of God.

How else is salt used? Salt is necessary for life. Even the most stringent nutritionists have to admit that salt is a necessary component of the human diet. The ancients, too, understood, salt was necessary for good health.  Similarly, Christians need to be salt in this way. The health, the survival of a society depends on Christians—doing what Christians do, infusing societal life with the life and goodness and truth and beauty of God. Our mission isn’t just to come to Church and leave our faith at the door. Our mission is to infuse this neighborhood with the saltiness—the life—of Christ because without the life of Christ it will die.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food. Salt keeps food from decay. So Christians, have the task of preserving our world from spiritual decay. Seeing many of the strong Christian values in our country begin to fade, Christians need to take up again this call to preserve. Christians must preserve our world—and protect our children—from spiritual rot.

Salt is also a Purifier: The salt in the oceans of the world act as a natural cleaning agent, and most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed. Each of us too needs to seek the constant purifying of our minds from the world’s corrupting influence. In his second New Testament Letter, St. Peter writes, “make every effort to be found without stain or defilement.” So, we must constantly purify our minds through study of God’s word, interiorizing the doctrines of our faith, imitating the example of the saints.

Salt also has a destructive power.  As a kid, I’d run to the kitchen to get a salt shaker when I found a slug in the garden.  In the ancient world, when an army would conquer their enemy, they’d knock down the walls, raise the city to the ground, then really to rub it in sometimes they would cast salt upon the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. Are Christians to be a destructive power in society? In a sense we are! We are to be a an opposing force against the powers of evil and the manifestations of the Antichrist.

Satan is like that slug, a garden slug, and he is diminished when Christians really get salty with the life of Christ. We are meant to disrupt the work of the antichrist to deface the dignity of the human person. Satan seeks to pervert life, lead souls away from God, and we must get salty in this battle. We need to take back territory and claim it for Christ.

Another use for salt: as we know all too well, living here in Cleveland—Salt is used for the melting of ice. Salt makes things flow that are frozen.   The Church’s task is to loosen up a world frozen in its own self-regard, frozen in violence and selfishness, frozen in habits of “oppression, false accusation and malicious speech” to quote our first reading.  When we are faithful to Christ, we have a melting influence.  

Think of the power of one saint. Saints melt hearts frozen against Christ. Hardened atheists have come to Christ by finding about the goodness of Francis, the piety of Padre Pio, the selfless charity of Mother Theresa and Elizabeth Ann Seton. Many souls have been converted to Christ because they saw Christians selflessly engaged in acts of charity. When the Church is faithful, we have that melting influence to get cold hearts flowing in the right direction again.

Finally, just like it’s used on our roads, in ancient times salt was also used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—promoting the teachings of Christ on a societal level which give stability to civilization, pointing out when fellow Christians begin down slippery paths away from God. We call them fallen Catholics because they have slipped. The reason why we are to take Catechesis and strong moral formation is to help people from slipping and falling

You and I are called to be salt. But the Lord warns that salt can lose its flavor. Perhaps maybe you have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the Christian life. Perhaps Christ is not the vital force in your marriage that he should be.  Maybe you don’t feel like you are having a positive influence on your neighbors, or the fallen away members of your family. 

The solution: Pray, pray, pray.  You cannot be salt without constant prayer.  A priest who does not pray is worthless, husbands and wives who do not pray will not have the strength and power to faithfully live out the Christian responsibilities of the marriage sacrament.  Young people who do not pray will not have the strength to withstand the nearly unending torrent of evil from our culture. 

Salt: an ordinary substance with tremendous potential, which is why the Lord tells us to be salt: ordinary people with tremendous potential, many uses, vital to life and civilization. We must become salt by bringing Christ into our workplaces, into our conversations, into our civic life, in our family life. Be salt, my friends, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Week in Ordinary Time 2026 - Wednesday (School Mass) - David Trusts in God's Mercy

 

Today’s readings tell us two stories that might seem very different—a story about King David sinning against God and a story about Jesus being rejected by the people of his home town. But these stories are really about the same problem—the same choice.

In the first reading, we heard about King David. David was a good king. He loved God. But one day, he made a mistake. He told his army to count how many soldiers he had. That doesn’t sound very bad—until we understand why he did it. For a moment, David trusted numbers and power more than he trusted God.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for David to realize his sin. And notice, he didn’t make excuses. He didn’t blame anyone else. He said: “I have sinned. I have been very foolish.”

Then God gave David a choice about what would happen next—and David said something very important: “Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful.” In other words, David was saying: “If something bad has to happen, I would rather put myself in God’s hands—because God is kind, and God knows when to stop.”

David remembered something very important: God is always more merciful than we expect.

Now let’s look at the Gospel. Jesus goes back to his hometown—the place where everyone knew him growing up. He teaches in the synagogue, and the people are amazed… but instead of trusting God, they start to doubt. They say: “Isn’t this just the carpenter?” “Isn’t this Mary’s son?” “Who does he think he is?” And the Gospel says: “They took offense at him.”

In other words, they rejected Jesus—not because he did something wrong, but because they thought they already knew him. They trusted their assumptions instead of trusting what God was doing right in front of them. And because of their lack of faith, they were unable to witness the miracles of Jesus.

Here’s the connection between the two readings: both are stories about how we fail to trust God. Like David, we trust in our own strength, thinking we can overcome life’s obstacles by our own power, or military might. Like the people of Nazareth, we fail to take the time to know Jesus.

But David shows us what we must do when we fail to trust God: run back to God as soon as you can. Sometimes, like David, we mess up. But the good news—the very good news—is this: God is merciful. When we admit we’re wrong…When we say we’re sorry…When we trust God again…God always wants to forgive, to heal, and to begin again.

So today, let’s remember: Don’t be afraid to trust God, even when it’s hard. And when we fall, let us trust in God’s mercy—because, like David said, “The Lord is most merciful.” For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - 

Trusting in the mercy of God, who is always faithful even when we struggle to trust Him, let us bring our prayers before the Lord.

 For the Church throughout the world: that she may always trust in God’s mercy and help all people turn back to the Lord when they fall away.

For our Holy Father, bishops, priests, and teachers: that they may humbly serve God’s people and help others recognize Christ.

For all students in our school: that we may grow in faith, learning to trust God more than our own fears, assumptions, or doubts.

For those who struggle to believe or who have turned away from God: that they may encounter His mercy and be given the grace to trust Him again.

For those who are sick, sad, or in need of healing: that they may be comforted by God’s loving care and feel His mercy close to them.

For those who have died, that they may rest in the peace and mercy of God forever.

 Merciful Father, you are slow to anger and rich in compassion. Hear the prayers we offer today with trust in your love, through Christ our Lord.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Healing Division through Humility

 

For the first six sundays of ordinary time this year, our second readings are taken from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.

Throughout his letters, St. Paul gives us a glimpse into those early Christian communities: the Philippians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Thessalonians, the Corinthians. Like our own, each of those communities had its own history, its unique and diverse gifts and particular challenges.

Paul praised the Philippians for instance, for their generous support of the poor, and for their commitment to working together. The Philippians took seriously the need for Christians to cooperate in the spread of the Gospel. Yet they were not without challenges. Paul had to address disunity and rivalry among them.

The Galatians too had their gifts. Paul describes the tremendous outpouring of the holy Spirit in Galatia; miracles, even, were evident there. Yet Paul had to address how members of the Galatian church were being swayed by a "different gospel," as he called it. Some members were insisting that gentiles had to be circumcised if they were to be saved. And where does Jesus teach that? He doesn’t. So, Paul had to correct their sacramental theology: that it is baptism, not circumcision which unites us to Christ, our Savior.

So, too, the Ephesians. Paul praised their strong faith in Christ and their love for the saints. He thanked God for the profound spiritual blessings evident among them. Yet, the Ephesians, too, had challenges. Paul detected some willful ignorance in them, hardness of heart, callousness, licentiousness and impurity. And so he challenged them to grow in Christian maturity—to get serious about casting off their old way of life and to put on the new way of Christ.

And then there were the Corinthians! Oh, the Corinthians. Thanks to St. Paul’s extensive correspondence with the Corinthians, we are better informed about the church at Corinth than probably any other first-century Christian community.

Paul extolled their knowledge, their eloquence in speech, and the diversity of their spiritual gifts. Yet,  just because they knew the faith and were eloquent in explaining it, didn’t mean they were living it. There were divisions and quarrels among them. The Corinthians had allowed the sexual immorality of the pagan culture take root in their community. They had disagreements about Christian marriage and food offered to idols. They also had arguments about theology.  They had issues with disorder in worship. Their church politics was causing division. All of these divisions, theological, earthly, and moral were threatening their mission and their souls.

This is why Paul began his letter, as we heard last week, urging the Corinthians to strive for Church unity—unity in faith, behavior, and worship. Why? Because division hinders the mission. It makes it hard to prove that Jesus is the Way of peace and reconciliation and holiness, if our divisions are disrupting that peace. So Paul urges the Corinthians to make every effort to strive for unity among them.

That concern for unity is exactly why Paul turns, in today’s passage, in our second reading, to the teaching on humility.

“Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.” Our calling to what? To be first and foremost, witnesses of the Gospel. And it’s not because we were rich, powerful, and wise that God chose us, but because we are foolish, weak, and sinful, in other words, we were in need of saving. No amount of earthly riches and worldly knowledge or wisdom could get us to heaven. We can’t get to heaven on our own. We can’t find peace and joy and fulfillment on our own. We need God. We need Jesus Christ. And the Christian is first and foremost a soul who humbly admits he needs God.

That brings us directly to the Beatitudes. In the Gospel today, we hear the beginning of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, this series of short but powerful teachings, known as the beatitudes: teachings about the dispositions, attitudes, decisions Christians are to practice if we are going to live a blessed life on earth that leads to eternal blessedness in heaven.

The Lord begins his Sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It is not arbitrary that Jesus teaches this beatitude first. For it is not one Beatitude among many. It is the fundamental beatitude that is necessary to obtain the others—It is doorway to all the rest, and instruction that every Christian is to adopt at a fundamental level.

When the Lord says “blessed are the poor”, he’s not saying that poverty is holy. He’s not saying that all poor people are holy, and by virtue of their poverty, they are automatically going to heaven. He’s not saying that all Christians need to be materially poor.

What’s he saying. Fundamentally, essentially, To be poor in spirit is to recognize our need for God—not occasionally, not in emergencies, but always. It is the recognition that we cannot save, justify sanctify, or redeem ourselves. It’s to acknowledge that we are not only incomplete without God, we’re incomplete if God is not the absolute center and primary force of our lives, of every decision and relationship.

If poverty of spirit is not our fundamental disposition, and God is not the absolute center of our lives, then something else is. Something unholy. Pride. Pride, the deadliest of sins because it claims, I’m not poor in spirit, I can get to heaven on my own, I can be fulfilled without God.

Pride, is believing the same lie that the enemy told Adam and Eve in the Garden, you don’t need God, you don’t need to obey, you don’t need to give your heart to Him. You can make it on your own, you’ll be happier without Him.

Pride. It hinders advancement in the spiritual life because it makes God secondary to our own egos. It stalls conversion, halts repentance, obstructs spiritual growth, impedes the mission of the Gospel. It keeps us from the life-giving waters and mercy of Christ, the spiritual fire of the Holy Spirit, and the loving embrace of the Father.

But blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To be poor in spirit means to open wide the doors of ones mind, soul, and heart to God.

This is why St. Paul stresses humility—poverty in spirit—as the remedy for the division and immorality in Corinth. Because as each member of the Church seeks God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, they are brought in deeper union with God and with one another.

Each of us does well to ask the Holy Spirit to helps us identify how we are called to better strive for and live out that first beatitude. What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my understanding of Catholic doctrine? What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my approach to and celebration of the Sacraments? What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my moral life—in my obedience to the commandments, the call to charity and the cultivation of the virtues? What does it mean to be poor in spirit, to throw open the doors of my heart in prayer?

May the Holy Spirit help each of us to identify who we can take more seriously this first beatitude, to grow in surrender and trust and obedience to God, who heals the wounds of sin and division for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.