Beatitudes Blog

Blessed Poverty and Knowing Christ

Blessed Poverty and Knowing Christ

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven....Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Mt 5:3, 6). Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount – and all his teachings in Matthew, for that matter – with this...

Jesus Versus Belief In a Just World

Jesus Versus Belief In a Just World

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Psychology of Victim-Blaming and Belief in a Just World In the 1960s, a young psychologist-in-training named Melvin Lerner noticed that many who worked with him to help psychiatric patients tended to...

Temptations of the Beloved

Temptations of the Beloved

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God....Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:8, 10). Read Luke 4:1-13 At his birth thirty years before, angels roused shepherds and rushed them to see the...

Joseph’s Forgiveness After the Long Loneliness

Joseph’s Forgiveness After the Long Loneliness

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.... Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:7, 9). As colorful as his famous coat, Joseph’s story keeps us on the edge of our seats like none other in scripture.  The long...

Mary’s Son

Mary’s Son

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Mary remembered old, wizened Simeon with hair coming out of every pore, bone-bent, hunched, and creeping toward Joseph and Mary's son like a spider.  With childlike delight in his crinkled eyes, he...

As a psychotherapist and spiritual director, I bring well-honed insight and skill to these posts; yet, my vulnerability plays a more important part, for more than advice from experts, serious people of faith need resonance with fellow travelers.

In my writing and in your reading and comments, may we face our challenges in God’s compassionate presence rather than in a private dressing room where we try in vain to make ourselves presentable to God at an appointed meeting. God meets us where we are.

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