Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25)

November 05th, 2005

Blessed!

Posted At: 11:14am by Rev. William M. Cwirla

"Calvary is for you, from Him, a gift. Blessed are those who are given to. They are "the poor in spirit" of the first Beatitude. If there is any hope of deliverance, it can only come from God. The poor in spirit wait on the Lord. As He gives, they are given to. His giving to them is not blocked or hindered by what they have crammed together and would use for bargaining. "God gives into empty hands," says Augustine, not into hands full of what we would boast before God. There is no room for the gifts to be given into. Sometimes, with drastic mercy, our Father empties our hands so that there may be room for His gifts. Blessed are those who are given to by God. Blessed are they who receive their death as a gift from His hands. Nothing is outside His hands. Despite the pain and perplexity of any way of dying, we are never outside His hands, and with His hands and from His hands our deaths are a gift by way of which He brings us to the fullness of His promises. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Norman Nagel, All Saints' Day, Valparaiso University, November 1, 1981, from Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel. Concordia Publishing House, 2004)

Edited on: November 05th, 2005 11:16 am

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November 05th, 2005

Blessed!