Excerpts from
a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, pope
Poverty
 lessed, Christ
says, are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It might
have been unclear to which poor He was referring, if after the words Blessed are
the poor, He had not added anything about the kind of poor He had in mind. For
then the poverty that many suffer because of grave and harsh necessity might seem
sufficient to merit the Kingdom of Heaven. But when He says: Blessed are the poor
in spirit, He shows that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be given to those who are
distinguished by their humility of soul rather than by
their lack of worldly goods.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time)
Living in Poverty
 t cannot be doubted that
the poor can more easily attain the blessing of humility than
those who are rich.
 In
the case of the poor, the lack of worldly goods is often accompanied by a quiet
gentleness, whereas the rich are more prone to arrogance.
Nevertheless, many rich people are disposed
to use their wealth not to swell their own pride but to perform
good and benevolent things. For these people the greatest treasure is what they spend
in relieving the distress and hardship of others.
This virtue of benevolence is open to all,
no matter what their class or condition, because all can be equal in their
willingness to give, however unequal they may be in earthly fortune. Indeed,
their inequality in regard to worldly wealth makes no difference if they are equal in
spiritual blessings.
Blessed, therefore, is that poverty which
is not trapped by the love of earthly things and does not seek
to be enriched by worldly riches, but desires rather to grow rich in the blessings of
heaven.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time)
Religious Grief
 fter preaching the blessings
of poverty, the Lord went on to say, Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. But the mourning for which He promises eternal consolation, dearly
beloved, has nothing to do with ordinary worldly distress; for the tears which have
their origin in the sorrow common to all mankind do not make anyone blessed. There is
another cause for the sighs of the saints, another reason for their blessed tears.
Religious grief mourns for sin, one’s own or another’s;
it does not lament because of what occurs as a result of God’s justice, but because
of what is done by human malice. Indeed, the one who does wrong is more to be lamented than
the one who suffers it, for wickedness plunges the sinner into
doom, whereas endurance can raise the just one to glory.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time)
Desire for God
 hen the soul hears the
voice of the Spirit saying to it through the prophet: Taste and see that the Lord
is good, it has already received a portion of God’s goodness, and is on fire
with love, the love that gives joy of the utmost purity. It
counts as nothing all that belongs to time; it is entirely consumed with
desire to eat and drink the food of
righteousness. The soul lays hold of the true meaning of the first and great
commandment: You shall love the Lord God with your whole heart, and your whole
mind and your whole strength, for to love God is nothing else than to love
righteousness.
Remember, Christian, the surpassing worth
of the wisdom that is yours. Bear in mind the kind of school in which you are to learn
your skills, the rewards to which you are called. Mercy itself wishes you to be merciful,
righteousness itself wishes you to be righteous, so that the Creator may shine forth in
His creature, and the image of God be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it
imitates His qualities. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What
you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours for ever.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Sunday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time)
Peace
 he blessedness of seeing
God is justly promised to the pure of heart. For the eye that is unclean would not
be able to see the brightness of the true light, and what would be joy to clear minds
would be a torment to those that are defiled. Therefore, let the mists of worldly
vanities be dispelled, and the inner eye be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness,
so that the soul’s gaze may feast serenely upon the great vision of God.
It is to the attainment of this goal that
the next words refer: Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God. This blessedness, dearly beloved,
does not derive from any casual agreement or from any and every kind of harmony,
but it pertains to what the Apostle says: Be at peace before the Lord,
and to the words of the prophet: Those who love your law shall enjoy abundant
peace; for them it is no stumbling block.
Even the most intimate bonds
of friendship and the closest affinity of minds cannot truly lay claim to
this peace if they are not in agreement with the will of God. Alliances based
on evil desires, covenants of crime and pacts of vice—all lie outside
the scope of this peace. Love of the world cannot
be reconciled with love of God, and those who
do not separate themselves from the children
of this generation cannot join the company of the children of God. But those
who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to preserve the
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, never
dissent from the eternal law as they speak
the prayer of faith. Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
These then are the peacemakers;
they are bound together in holy harmony and are rightly given the heavenly
title of children of God, co-heirs with Christ. And this is the reward
they will receive for their love of God and neighbor: when their
struggle with all temptation
is finally over, there will be no further adversities
to suffer or scandal to fear; but they will rest in the
peace of God undisturbed, through our Lord Who lives and reigns with the Father
and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Monday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time)
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