Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, June 8, 2020

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.”

We call these the “Beatitudes”, a word which comes from the Latin “beatitudo”, which means “happiness”, because the one who lives out these words attains eternal happiness.  

If we take the Beatitudes together we find that the “blessed” are those who espouse what the world considers weakness and lay themselves open to harm.  The “merciful”, for instance, refuse to take vengeance on those who injure them.  The “meek” are those who go about their lives, minding their own business, and so are not setting out traps for others or seeking to climb over them at work or in politics.  The “pure of heart” single-mindedly serve their Master: “Jesus said to him: No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9, 62).  Nor do they look to the side at improper things, or the sorts of things worldly people delight in.  These innocent folks do not conform to the world in order to gain safety at all costs, or position themselves in authority in service to their pride,  nor do they act out of fear or lack of confidence but rather out of strength, out of solidity in their purpose, and out of love for Jesus.  

It is significant that the Beatitudes  come at the head of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount because all that follows over the next three chapters derives from them.  They are an epitome of the Lord’s teaching.  We can see them acted out in each of his parables, his deeds, and his other teachings.  And it is necessary, if we are to know what they mean, to define their terms as the Lord does.  If we want to see how the Lord defines “mercy”, we can look at the parable of the Good Samaritan, and then at the Lord’s Death on the Cross.  If we want to understand what he means by a “peacemaker”, we look at the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, and then recollect that our Lord came among us not with lightning bolts and fire, but as an infant lying in a trough.  We follow the definitions of the Lord, not those that the world would impose.

At the end of the Beatitudes we find two that call “blessed” those who are persecuted for justice and for the Lord himself.  The living out of the Beatitudes puts us at odds with a world that cannot bear criticism or opposition, even something as simple as the word “no”.  The world is a willful three-year old child, ever on the verge of a tantrum.  And so those who pursue the Beatitudes are bound to suffer persecution of one kind or another, either intermittently or continually, all their lives.  The Christian does not shy away from persecution but stands humbly and confidently with Jesus Christ, who came as “a sign that will be contradicted” (Luke 2, 34).  We are “signs” in the “Sign”: signs to the world that there is a different way to live, a way that does not involve the darkness of lies and delusion, a way that is bright with Truth and freedom.  In this way we fulfill our Lord’s commandment to preach the Gospel to all nations.

Let us live out the virtues upheld by the Beatitudes so that we may imitate the One who gives them to us.