Jun
9
The Beatitudes
June 9, 2008 |
Today’s gospel from Matthew 5 teaches us about the Beatitudes.
Quick, who can name four of them?
There are actually nine “blessed are they”’s in the Beatitudes and I bet there was a time when most school kids could name them all and know what they meant.
For my generation, we probably know “blessed are they who mourn” because we’ve heard it at a funeral; “blessed are the poor in spirit” because the phrase as been so often used except with the “in spirit” being chopped off; and “blessed are the peacemakers” because every political peacenik in the past forty years has invoked this phrase to further their cause.
But what about the others - “blessed are the meek”, “they who hunger and thirst for righteousness”, “the merciful”, “the clean of heart”, “they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness”, and “you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil falsely against you because of me?”
What is so beautiful about the Beatitudes is that they invoke almost every uncomfortable, culturally demonized, or destructive station of life that can afflict man.
Those who mourn - no one wants to mourn, everyone feels unconformtable helping someone mourn; but it’s a fact of life that we will mourn and a Christian duty to comfort others who are mourning.
Those poor in spirit - material wealth doesn’t matter here;what matters is whether someone is in tune with Christ, not whether you are rich or poor.
The peacemakers - everyone wants peace in one way or another; peace in our homes, communities, nation, world; we all must do our part to bring about peace in every part of our world, especially our home, but we must keep in mind that it must be more than a peace for the sake of peace.
The meek - the meek are the most likely to be attacked and exploited.
They who hunger and thirst for righteousness - they are often attacked and derided for sticking up for what is right and the truth.
The merciful - it is so easy to seek revenge, to have no mercy; it takes a real man or woman to be merciful, to forgive.
The clean of heart - how often does our culture demean those who stand up for moral certainty and behavior becoming of children of Christ.
They who are persecuted, insulted and lied about - this one is self-explanatory. All we need to do is look at the Canon of Saints.
How do we treat people that fall into these stations of life? How many of these stations sound familiar to our own lives? How many are these do we actively seek?
The Beatitudes need to shape our worldview and how we treat others. They need to be an aspiration for each of us so that we can walk with Christ and help our fellow man. To a certain extent, they need to become who we are and what we want to become.
And the rewards are great. For each Beatitude has a second part that promises great things - the land, the Kingdom of Heaven, comfort, satisfaction, mercy, the sight of God, to be called Children of God, and a reward great in heaven.
What can be better than these?
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Optional Memorial of St. Ephrem, deacon and doctor (Syria, 4th Century) - monk; wrote great works about the faith and against the heresies of his time; his humility prevented him from accepting the priesthood; was very pious and virtuous; many flocked to him and read his works; declared a Doctor of the Church in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
