anguish, that we must have our minds full of bitterness, and that after having
CHAPTER 2: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit and Those Who Mourn
anguish, that we must have our minds full of bitterness, and that after having groaned, we do not know what to say, except that the end is to conclude, Alas, if God had not pity on us, we are more than lost!
And so, when we have reasoned as well as we can according to the world, it is certain that we will always return there, Woe to us if we are poor, if we are hungry, if we are tormented. But when we know that God has put us in this world to test our obedience, and that we are only passing through it, that we have no settled rest there: but that we have an inheritance which is prepared for us in heaven: when therefore we can reach there, then we will conclude, There lies our blessedness which before was hidden from us. And this is also where Paul brings us back, when he shows that the faithful can glory in their afflictions: especially (he says) that affliction produces endurance and hope, and then having felt how merciful God is toward his own, we are all the more confirmed in hope, which does not put us to shame. After having dealt with this, he again expresses what I have just said: that the promise is made to us, and that if our salvation lies in hope, it must be hidden: for we do not hope for what we see: we will not say, I hope that my dinner will be prepared, when the table is set, and the meats are placed on it: but we hope for what is still unseen by our senses. So it is with our salvation. It is true that there is an invincible certainty in the truth of God: but it is a question here of the sight of our eyes, and of our apprehension. We must therefore not only be uncertain about it, but also know that we are far from it, and that we in no way understand it. If our salvation therefore lies in hope, it is hidden: and if it is. hidden, we must be blessed not by what we presently apprehend nor by the goods that we now have: but inasmuch as we groan here below, and wait for God to call us to Himself, and for us to be gathered by our Lord Jesus Christ who is our life and the fountain of all goods. So we now see what our practice must be is that we learn to meditate on the promises of eternal salvation which are contained in the word of God. Now these promises draw us away from the world: and it is as if God were holding out his hand to us, to say, Poor creatures, you are here plunged into the quagmire: when you follow your pleasures, when it is only a question of laughter, you think you are at the end of all happiness, and it is only a shadow that vanishes. So do not deceive yourselves any more: but learn where your good lies, and lift up your hearts to me. So this is how God's promises help us to withdraw from this world. And when we have passed the present things, then we will know that poverty, affliction, anguish, distress, and everything that is to reduce us to nothing, is not to worsen our condition: it is enough that God loves us, it is