A New Look at the Beatitudes
Beatitude means happiness. Beatitude is when one is truly blessed. This is part of the Christian life. Jesus speaks of this in the Sermon on the Mount. These are not characteristics of eight different individuals. You cannot have one without the other.
Jesus says the poor in spirit are happy (Matt. 5:3). They are detached from things of this world (6:24). The poor have the Gospel preached to them (11:5). Their kingdom is not of this world (theirs is the kingdom of heaven). True riches are stored up for them in heaven (6:19-21). Material goods are means, not ends in themselves.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church introduces this subject in the following way.
The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven (CCC 1716).
Our Father Who art in heaven,
The meek are those who are humble (Matt. 5:5). There is something they hope for because Jesus says that they shall possess it. The Christian does not grasp for things of this life and yet God gives us all we need (6:25-33). Jesus was born poor and died poor.
How can someone be happy or blessed by mourning (Matt. 5:5)? The man that would not so much as look up to heaven but beat his breast saying, “Have mercy on me a sinner!” Jesus promises comfort (Luke 18:13). They mourn for their sins, their unworthiness. They mourn for the sins of the world. In their helplessness God’s grace is revealed.
Hallowed (Holy) be Thy Name.
Many times we equate hungering and thirsting with being poor. There is a deeper hunger and thirst that affects all those who are truly poor (Matt. 5:6). Righteousness or justice is what they ask for. Throughout the Old Testament, God told His people to always make provision for the poor (Lev. 19:10). Why would Jesus humble Himself and become poor to ransom a fallen world? He said that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on earth as it is in heaven.
To be continued . . .
Ave Maria!
Praised Be Jesus Christ!
Jesus and Mary, Protect and Save the Unborn!
Bible quotes for the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, retrieved from http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P5I.HTM
