The Beatitudes
Mt 5:1-12
1When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2He began to teach them, saying:/ 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,/ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven./ 4Blessed are they who mourn,/ for they will be comforted./ 5Blessed are the meek,/ for they will inherit the land./ 6Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,/ for they will be satisfied./
7Blessed are the merciful,/ for they will be shown mercy./ 8Blessed are the clean of heart,/ for they will see God./ 9Blessed are the peacemakers,/ for they will be called children of God./ 10Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,/ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven./ 11Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
BLESSED ARE THE POOR.
The Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ five great discourses in
the gospel of Matthew. It begins with a list of beatitudes.
Who are the macarioi,
those accounted as truly blessed or happy? Jesus begins with those who
are “poor in spirit.” The poor in spirit are those lacking in material
possessions and whose confidence is in God alone. In the Old Testament,
they are the anawim.
Poverty
here is not mere deprivation of the basic necessities of life, but is
an attitude of the soul. One is emptied of self in order to be filled
with Jesus. We can even say that poverty in spirit also covers the other
dispositions, like mourning, being meek, merciful, and clean of heart.
Clearly,
all these are characteristics of Jesus Christ who is meek and humble of
heart. Jesus is the reason and foundation of the beatitudes. Before his
contemporaries, Jesus may not appear great and imposing, and he dies a
shameful death on the cross. But, in the eyes of God, Jesus is the
beloved Son in whom God is well pleased. To live, therefore, the spirit
of the beatitudes is to mirror the beloved Son and to be thus pleasing
to the heavenly Father.
Can you be happy while living a simple life
and facing the ordinary challenges of life?
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