Life is a Vocation - Part III (b)

A New Look at the Beatitudes 

This is the conclusion of our exploration of the beatitudes.

Hunger and Thirst

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).

Jesus gives us Himself in the Most Holy Eucharist to feed us and to come to the realization of His love for us (John 6:53).

Give us this day our daily bread

The Merciful

Blessed and happy are the merciful, for indeed, God has shown great mercy to us (Matt. 5:7). Whoever has been forgiven much, loves much (Luke 7:43). God has given us something we do not deserve.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

The Pure in Heart

Blessed and happy are the pure in heart because only those with a pure heart will be able to see God (Matt. 5:8). Jesus says that the greatest commandment in the law is to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our might (22:37). Not 50% of one, 70% of another and 98% of the other. There is no middle ground here. He adds to this love of our neighbor as ourselves (22:39). Christ is present in the poorest among us (25:31-40; Luke 16:19-31).

And lead us not into temptation, . . .

The Peacemakers

We are to be peacemakers because we are the servants of the Prince of Peace. He calls us the children of God (Matt. 5:9). The peace that Jesus gives is not what the world gives (John 14:27).
                                 

The Persecuted

And we are not done yet. Like our King and Savior we will be persecuted for the very sake of righteousness (Matt. 5:10). Jesus brings us back to what it truly is to be poor in spirit. Our kingdom is not of this world. 

The more our faith grows, the more we hope for what we do not see (Heb. 11:1). The purer our heart becomes, the more God’s love flows through us. This love overflows to our neighbor.

Why is this LOVE crucified? He was poor. He humbled Himself to death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-8). He endured the agony in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36ff). He fasted forty days in the wilderness and was tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1-11). On the cross He said, “I thirst.” (John 19:28) With the thrust of a lance, the last drop of His life was poured out from His Sacred Heart.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)

As the Douey Rheims translation states, “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. . .”

Jesus said we would be persecuted. This is not an easy way. The way to life is narrow and hard (Matt. 7:13-14). Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). How much do we want heaven? As the apostle Paul stated, I am crucified with Christ . . .” (Gal. 2:19-20). The beatitudes reveal what this truly means. We bear our cross and ultimately our cross will bear us if we live as Jesus asks us.

. . . but deliver us from evil.

With the passages that have been gleaned from Sacred Scripture, the Church describes this so beautifully.

The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity.

• They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection;

• they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life;

• they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations;

• they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples;

• they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints. (CCC 1717)

So the Catechism ties all this together most beautifully. This is what we are called to. It is not easy and demands effort on our part. How much do we want heaven? The beatitudes are of heavenly value and conform us to His image.

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