Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit; the Kingdom of Heaven Is Theirs
The response for today’s psalm is taken from the gospel of this 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Matthew 5:1-12a – the Beatitudes. The verses are from Psalm 146, a simple but profound invitation to see in God alone the sufficient strength and stability to be a help in times in need. In this praise psalm, we praise God for attending to and taking up residence among the oppressed, hungry, captives, blind, bowed down, resident aliens, orphans, and widows. As we pray and meditate on these verses, we are called to imitate God, the God who saves: being poor in spirit, compassionate, merciful, hungry for righteous and justice and desirous of peace. When we do this we find ourselves living in the kingdom of heaven.
Creator of heaven and earth, maker of the teeming sea,
keeps faith for ever, giving food to the hungry,
justice to the poor, freedom to captives.
God opens blind eyes and straightens the bent,
comforting widows and orphans, protecting the stranger.
God loves the just but blocks the path of the wicked.
O God, you will rule forever and ever, through all generations.
[verses adapted from The Psalter © 1995, Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.]