Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, June 6, 2022

Matthew 5, 1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Yesterday morning, sixty Catholics worshipping God at Mass in a church in southwestern Nigeria were martyred by terrorists.  We pray for justice in that country, for the healing of those wounded in this attack, and the conversion of all the enemies of Christ to faith in him.

The return to Ordinary Time brings the Gospel reading of the familiar but not well-understood beatitudes.  We have to keep in mind when reading these again that the Lord Jesus means them not in the usual terms we think of, but as something far greater.  For instance, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  The Lord is speaking of his own poverty and urging his followers to make it their own.  The Lord’s poverty first of all consisted in his laying aside his glory, joining himself to our human nature, and being born into this world.  He did this of his own free will out of love for us and in obedience to the Father.  He also lived in poverty, particularly during his three years of ministry.  He was dependent on others for food and shelter.  Often, he had neither.  He himself spoke of having nowhere to lay his head (cf. Matthew 8, 20).  His poverty became absolute destitution as he hung upon the Cross.  Even his Father seemed to have forsaken him.  The Lord calls us to his poverty through an attitude of absolute dependence on him and gratitude for all we have, as well as by living simply.  We do this for him and we do this in him.

“Blessed are those who mourn.”  We enter into the mourning of Jesus for those who will not convert from sin, and on account of our own sins, as Jesus so movingly mourned over Jerusalem: “And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:  If you had known, in this your day, the things that are to your peace: but now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41–42).  Through the grace of God we are able to mourn with Jesus and so be comforted in heaven.

“Blessed are the meek.”  Jesus tells us that he is “meek and lowly of heart” (Matthew 11, 29).  We enter into his meekness when we work for justice but do not insist on our personal version of it, or when we ask if we can help rather than force our help on others.  We are meek like Jesus when we listen to others even when we disagree with them, and answer them respectfully. “Meek” means “Father . . . not my will, but hours be done” (Luke 22, 42).

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  As the Lord hungered and thirsted to redeem us, we hunger and thirst for our sanctity and that of others.  We recall that he tore relentlessly through the land of Israel, calling people to repentance, and did not spare himself in his Passion, by which he redeemed us.  We must ever be alert in our pursuit of holiness to assist others to become holy.

“Blessed are the clean of heart.”  To be pure of heart with Jesus is to make God’s will our purpose, and to make accomplishing it despite distractions the goal of each day.  

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  The Lord offers peace to his Apostles: “Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid” (John ,14, 27).  The peace we offer others is not the peace of this world, but the peace that comes from the knowledge of God.  This is the peace the Lord brought to the Apostles.  It is the rest of the soul in the arms of divine mercy.  We do this with the Lord through our prayers, our counsel, and through our good example.

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”  Because we are in Christ, we are subject to the same persecution he endured: “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15, 20).  By our perseverance in persecution, we glorify God, and he will glorify us for this on heaven: “Be faithful unto death: and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2, 10). 

“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.”  The sign that we are practicing the counsel of the Beatitudes is that the world looks upon us and sees not us but the Lord Jesus, and so it strikes at us as though at him.  The world will ever fear and hate Christ until it passes away on the last day: “The heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3, 7). 

The Lord Jesus, in praying for us to the Father, said, “They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world” (John 17, 16).  Reminding ourselves of this makes it easier to remember that we live in him.