Today, as Lent draws to a close and we turn our attention to the passion, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, it's useful to stop for a moment and reflect on the very core of Jesus' teaching. The Beatitudes aren’t just the gateway to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, but in a very real sense form a perfect introduction to Jesus’ teaching. To understand them properly, we should realize that they’re all addressed to each one of us. In other words, to be poor in spirit and meek, to mourn, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be merciful and clean of heart, to be a peacemaker, to suffer persecution in a search for holiness -- these aren’t different people or kinds of people but different demands made on every true disciple of Jesus Christ.
Jesus doesn’t promise salvation to different groups. He promises it to each of us as we strive to follow the spirit and to meet the demands of the Beatitudes. The healthy and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor -- all of us are called, regardless of circumstances, to the happiness experienced by those who live up to the Beatitudes taught by Jesus.
The Beatitudes have what theologians call an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us definitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But they also promise peace in this life, God’s peace in the midst of tribulation and suffering. And in doing so, they imply a completely new approach, one radically at odds with the way we usually evaluate things.
They rule out the kind of religiosity expressed by the Pharisees – the kind that regards earthly happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness and misfortune as a form of punishment. Instead, the Beatitudes place spiritual good above material or worldly good. While they don’t contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, they do encapsulate the whole program of Christian perfection.
Today as we prepare ourselves to receive God’s pardon for our sinfulness, let’s take a brief look at the Beatitudes and try to understand what Jesus is telling us…
The poor in spirit…This has more to do with an attitude of neediness and of humility towards God than with material poverty. The person who is poor in spirit looks to God, not to himself, for salvation, trusting in God’s mercy. “Unless you become like this little one…” It’s the attitude of seeing oneself as a child in God’s presence, a child who owns nothing: everything I have comes from God and belongs to God. It’s not easy to become detached from material things or to practice austerity in using them, but this is what Jesus asks of each of us.
Those who mourn… We are blessed, Jesus tells us, when we suffer and bear our suffering with love and a spirit of atonement. We are also blessed when we are genuinely sorry for our sins, or are pained by the offenses of others. The Spirit of God consoles us when we weep for our sins, and gives us a share in the fullness of happiness and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.
The meek… We are meek when we patiently suffer unjust persecution; when we remain serene, humble and steadfast in adversity; when we don’t give in to resentment or discouragement. Our irritabilities often stem from a lack of humility and interior peace. The virtue of meekness is the antidote; it’s a necessary part of the Christian life. Who hunger and thirst for righteousness…The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is essentially a religious one. We are righteous when we sincerely strive to do God’s Will by obeying the commandments, by fulfilling our responsibilities to God and each other, and by entering into a life of prayer. Righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is what we today would call holiness. And so Jesus is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for holiness; rather, we should hunger and thirst for it. Our lives should be a striving for holiness in God’s eyes.
The path to Christian holiness is through the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation. We should love what the Church teaches and offers: the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, and an intimate relationship with God in prayer.
The merciful…Mercy isn’t just a matter of charitable giving, but also of accepting other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope with them and loving them. Mercy means rejoicing and suffering with others. It’s the practical application of the 2nd of the great commandments: love your neighbor as yourself.The clean of heart… When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his emotions, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. To be clean of heart is a gift of God. It’s the capacity to love, in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble.
As St. Paul instructed the Philippians, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is beautiful, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Helped by God's grace, we should constantly strive to cleanse our hearts and acquire this purity, whose reward is the vision of God.
The peacemakers…Those who foster peace, in themselves and in others, and therefore try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not based on this divine peace will be a false peace, shallow and misleading. "They shall be called children of God." As St. John tells us in his first letter, "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".
The persecuted… Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are holy, or striving to be holy, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus blesses those who suffer persecution for being true to Jesus, those who suffer patiently and joyfully. Circumstances arise in every Christian's life that call for a sort of heroism – situations where no compromise is possible. We either stay true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost to our reputation, life or possessions, or we deny Him. St. Bernard called it “the beatitude of the martyrs,” but don’t be deceived into thinking it doesn’t apply to each of us. For the word, “martyr”, means “witness.” And we are all called to be witnesses to the truth of Jesus Christ. A refusal to do so is, quite simply, a sign of weak faith, a refusal to trust that God will be with us to support and strengthen us.
Because of Jesus’ promises, you and I can believe that all sacrifice and all suffering has value. Leading the Christian life is never easy, and suffering always tests our faith. But we know we can always trust in God’s help, and in his mercy and forgiveness.
We can say, "Thy will be done," no matter how difficult the circumstances. For God’s will works in bad times and good. It works in ways far beyond our ability to understand, but we can always trust in it.
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