WEDNESDAY.
The First Beatitude.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." (Matt. v. 3.) Ponder, in each particular virtue, its acts, Christ's example, and its rewards. The proper acts of poverty are considered to be five. 1. He is poor in spirit, who in affection is ready to lose all rather than offend God. 2. He who actually leaves all for God's sake. 3. He who never aspires to things above himself, and does not presume in himself, and does not court the praises of men. 4. He who denies his own will and judgment, and submits himself to others. 5. He who acknowledges, that every thing, which he has, comes from God, and who is intimately convinced of his own nothingness, acknowledging with the Prophet, " my substance is as nothing before Thee." (Ps. xxxviii. 6.) Though not bound to practice all, every Christian is bound to practice some of the above acts.
II. Christ has given us admirable examples of poverty of spirit, throughout the whole course of His life, but principally in His crib, in banishment, in His parents' house, and, lastly, on the cross. Besides, " He debased himself," as St. Paul writes, (Phil. ii. 7.) becoming obedient, not only to His eternal Father and His earthly parents; but also to His tormentors, even to death itself. Of His doctrine, He publicly asserted, " My doctrine is not mine, but of Him that sent me." (John vii. 16.)
III. Christ has promised to reward the professors of poverty of spirit, with the possession of Heaven; "Theirs," he says, " is the kingdom of Heaven." Reflect how advantageous it is, to obtain the kingdom of Heaven with its eternal happiness, by the exchange of some few
