September 27, 2009

1) Announcements

* October 11, Hiep Si training day

2) Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs shall be the kingdom of Heaven.

A) Bible Search: In the book of Matthew, Jesus talks about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Each group must find one parable that explains the kingdom of heaven and come up with a summary of how one that is poor in spirit would relate to the story.

B) Meditation:

What is Being Poor in Spirit? - Let us first examine what it is not.

• Does it mean owning nothing? No, it is not necessary to be poor in goods to be poor in spirit. Poor in Spirit is an attitude of how we attach ourselves to property.

• Does it mean we do not need to take care of ourselves? No, with anything that we have we are called to be good stewards considering how it should be properly used to take care of and serve ourselves and others.

• Does it mean ignoring our particular talents? No, our talents are gifts from God, given to be used wisely. We are called to use of talents to take care of ourselves and to serve others.

• Does it mean that we need to degrade ourselves? No, we are to humbly acknowledge God as the source of all of our blessings and use them wisely. We are not to abuse ourselves or consider our blessings a curse, a sign of our sinfulness.

• Does it mean living without luxuries? No, we are encouraged to have luxuries in our life as long as we keep them in proper perspective and do not allow the desire to have more and more keep us from serving God's people.

• Does it mean having a poor spiritual life? No, we are called to deeply develop our spirituality as we become closer to God.

Now let us consider what Being Poor in Spirit truly means.

• Does it mean considering all property belonging to God? Yes, we are called to always keep ourselves in perspective of God, acknowledging and thanking Him as the source of all good things.

• Does it mean being good stewards of that with which we have been entrusted? Yes, we are called to take care of what we have been given, not only for our own benefit but for others as well.

• Does it mean having a spirit of thankfulness towards God? Yes, we are called to be thankful people.

• Does it mean being detached from those things we own? Yes, what we own should never control us nor consume us in the endless pursuit of possesions.

• Does it mean denying ourselves at times? Yes, we need to consider not ourselves but others in our decisions and at times sacrificing something we want to help another is the right decision.

• Does it mean respecting those who serve us? Yes, when people serve us, we should not consider them less than ourselves, putting them down in our thoughts, actions, or words.

• Does it mean respecting everyone around us, regardless of their circumstance in life? Yes, everyone is deserving of respect as human beings, regardless of whether they are earthly poor or rich, whether they have lots of power or none at all, or whether they have exceptional skills or not.

Poor in Spirit means acknowledging God's ownership of everything and that we are responsible to be good stewards of those things with which we have be blessed. Our attitude should be one of faithful servants and not one of pride, envy, lust, and gluttony. We are called to use what we have and are given to provide for ourself and serve God's people.

Life Application:

Isaiah 61:1 --The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anoited me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound.

**How can we help those that are poor in spirt? At home? With our friends? At tntt?

2) Debate: Is it important to go to church?

Group 1: Can't we just watch mass on tv?

Group 2: no you cant watch mass on tv?

Group 3: Trying to convince group 4 to go to mass.

Group 4: non-catholics not understanding why we need to go to mass.

3) Wrap up