Page 432 - Bible History
P. 432
II. CHRIST, THE FRIEND OF THE POOR AND THE SICK
1. JESUS LIVES A LIFE OF POVERTY
Our divine Savior was born in a stable, and His rst bed was a manger. Mary and Joseph were poor and had to work very hard for a living. His childhood days were spent in an humble little house in Nazareth, a town out which the people used to joke. As a young man Jesus worked with His hands. He was a carpenter like Joseph, His foster father. His food was the food of the poor, his clothing that of a labor mg man.
During His public life, Jesus had no home of His own. He and His apostles depended upon the charity of the people for their bodily needs. He ate when and where He was invited, and slept wherever His friends gave Him a bed. Many a night He slept out of doors with only the starry skies overhead for a roof. He would send His disciples into a eld to gather the wheat that the owners had left behind for the ,poor.
Our Lord began His wonderful Sermon on the Iount with the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." The poor in spirit are those whose hearts are not set on the things of this world. They may be really poor, and have scarcely enough to keep body and soul together, but
jf they bear their lot patiently, their reward will be
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"Blessed are the or in spirit"
