Pascal: because He loved it

Sunday, December 12, 2021
    Advent III
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
    —Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I love poverty because He loved it. I love riches because they afford me the means of helping the very poor. I keep faith with everybody; I do not render evil to those who wrong me, but I wish them a situation like mine, in which I receive neither good nor evil from men. I try to be just, true, sincere, and faithful to all men; I have a tender heart for those to whom God has more closely united me; and whether I am alone, or seen by people, I do all my actions in the sight of God, who must judge them, and to whom I have consecrated them all.
    These are my sentiments; and every day of my life, I bless my Redeemer, who has implanted them in me, and who, out of a man full of weakness, of miseries, of lust, of pride, and of ambition, has made a man free from all these evils by the power of His grace, to which all the glory of it is due, as of myself I have only misery and error.
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #550, p. 178 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:3; Job 29:11-16; Luke 6:30; 11:41; 14:12-14; Gal. 6:10; Jas. 2:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have shown me my error; now help rid me of it. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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