Second Day
FIRST BEATITUDE
To be poor in spirit. — Matt. v. 3.
WE come now to detail; and Jesus Christ ' begins thus : ‘ Blessed are the poor in spirit.’ He means here not only the poor by choice — those who have left all things to follow Him, and to whom He has promised a hundredfold in this world and life everlasting in the next — but all whose hearts are detached from earthly goods. He means both those who are bearing actual poverty without murmuring or impatience, and the rich who hold their possessions without the spirit of riches : — that is, without the love of display, the pride, the injustice, and the insatiable craving to get everything for themselves which constitute this spirit. Eternal happiness, under the majestic title of 'kingdom,’ belongs to all these — and for a special reason. The particular evil of poverty on earth is to make people con-
