Blessedness is a state of happiness which is achieved only in union with God. It is to experience the Sabbath rest of God. The beatitudes therefore is a road map to attain this union with God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heavenPoverty means possessing nothing. Being poor in spirit means having nothing spiritually. This does not mean material poverty. But it means acknowledging that one does not own anything. It takes on Job's attitude, "Naked I was born and naked I shall die. Blessed be the name of the Lord".
When one acknowledges one's nothingness before God, this is humility. It is recognizing one's position before God. Those who know that they are nothing before God, rely on God. They know where their strength lie. They know the source of all things. They trust in God. With humility, people trust in God and the result really is that God reigns in their lives. This is possessing the kingdom of God - to have God reign in one's life.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
The dictionary defines meek as gentle. The gentle shall inherit the earth. The world tells us that the rich and powerful inherit the earth. They are the ones who have material things to pass on to the next generation. But for those who are poor in spirit, those who have nothing, how can they possess anything, when they have nothing?
Meekness is defined as gentleness. This gentleness is not defined as weakness. It is being gentle to God - to be obedient to God. Obedience is the key that unlocks the power of God. If one looks at scripture, we see that ordinary people did extraordinary things just because they obeyed God. Joshua was afraid when he took over Moses' job. But because of his obedience, he was able to lead God's people to possess their inheritance.
For the gentle - the obedient, God will be the one to provide the inheritance.
Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted
To mourn is to grieve for something lost. To be able to grieve, one must realize that something was lost. The greatest loss to humanity is union with God, that intimacy with God was lost in the garden of Eden. This was restored during baptism - but is lost again when one sins. Sin separates us from union with God. This realization of loss, this mourning for the loss of intimacy with God is called sorrow for sin. There can be two possible outcomes to this: despair or repentance.
Both of these are seen in Judas and Peter. Both of them sinned against Jesus. Judas realized that and he despaired and so took his life. Peter also realized that, but he repented. He went back to his community.
Repentance ensures God's forgiveness. It is not only sorrow for sin, but it is turning back to God. We are assured of God's forgiveness when there is repentance.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for justice for they shall be filled
To hunger is to crave for something. To hunger for justice is to crave for something that is due to us. Justice can also be translated as righteousness. We are made righteous by our faith. In the Douay-Rheims translation, the first occurrence of the word 'justice' is in Genesis 15:6, "Abraham believed God and it was reputed to him unto justice".
We are made righteous before God with our faith. When we thirst to be made right with God, we thirst for faith. We want to believe so that we can be righteous with God. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not something we can earn or work for. God always gives us this gift. All we need to do is to accept it and respond to it. Faith guarantees that we will be filled. The word filled means to supply food in abundance. Means that if we want to believe, God will give us an abundant grace to be able to do so.
Blessed are the merciful, for the shall obtain mercy
Mercy is defined as compassion for the miserable. It is willingness to forgive even when one is abused. This is a precondition for our sins to be forgiven. In Exodus 34, God describes himself as "
The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished". Indeed, mercy is to forgive. But there is also justice. To be merciful, I must forgive and leave justice to the Lord.
Forgiveness of others is a pre-requisite for our forgiveness. If we trust in God, we will forgive and leave the justice to God. God is just and he will make sure that people will get what they deserve, according to their actions. Leaving justice and revenge to God is a sign of trust in God's power and justice. It is also an act of mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God
In the Old Testament, God himself said that no one can see his face and live. Yet, here, Jesus said that this is possible - by keeping a clean heart. Psalm 119:9 says, "
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word". The word keeping can also mean
guarding it. One must always be guarding one's ways to make sure that it is pure. It is something to be worked on. It is not something that can be left to change.
Guarding his way - according to your word. This guarding is done not by anything else, but according to the word of God. The word of God is a weapon that we can use to defend us. St. Paul says, that "
take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God".
God's word guides us to holiness. It is a lamp to my feet and and light unto your path. It protects us from stumbling in sin and leads us to God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God
The peacemakers are those who not only talk of it, but those who work for it: peace with God and peace with fellowmen. Peace with men is possible only after peace with God. If one has not set himself right with God, one cannot really be sincere with his fellowmen. This requires repentance and not only repentance, but what goes beyond repentance, a decision to really become a new creation.
Romans 8:14 says, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God". To be sons of God is really to be led by the Spirit. This is possible only if one has truly repented and desires to live a new life in Jesus.
Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Persecution is to be suffered - for one purpose only - for justice's sake. Another translation has it as God's approval. If we suffer so that we can be approved by God, we will possess the kingdom of heaven. To suffer for justice's sake is to be poor in spirit. To be poor in Spirit is to rely on the Spirit. If one relies on the Spirit, one will be led to justice - or righteouesness.
This is the only reason why persecution should be suffered - when one does what is right, or when one seeks God's approval. 1 Peter says that we gain nothing if we suffer for doing something wrong. But if we suffer for doing right, then we are blessed. By suffering persecution, we prove that we are right. What matters really is pleasing God. "The reason why you do not believe is because you seek the approval of men" - was what Jesus told the Jews. To believe Jesus, one must seek to please God. This is the key to eternal life - to please God. Without pleasing God, we cannot possess the kingdom of heaven.
The reason why we endure suffering is because God is glorified. We suffer for the sake of God and not for anything else. This is the only reason why we should suffer - to give glory to God.
Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
This is the only beatitude where Jesus directly addresses his listeners. Blessed are you ...This is the only beatitude where Jesus speaks of what happens to the listener. The others are more of internal states or actions of the listeners. But this one is done to the listener.
Likewise, it says of suffering for the sake of Jesus. This suffering has value because it is for Jesus. All other sufferings need to be examined, whether it is caused by a person's sin. And if not, these are to be rejected and fought against.
This is also the only beatitude with a command: be glad and rejoice. Some translations say "rejoice and be exceedingly glad". It gives a reason for that - very great is your reward in heaven. When we suffer for Jesus, he makes sure we are compensated for it. Jesus is a magnanimous giver. He is just and gives us what we deserve. When we offer to him everything, he takes it and rewards us according to our deeds.
This is also the only beatitude where Jesus gave a reason - "they persecuted the prophets that were before you". The prophets speak for God. They act on behalf of God and seek to correct evil ways. For these, they were abused, persecuted and accused wrongly. They endured and because of these, they gained much from these sufferings. The saints too suffered for the sake of Jesus and now, they live with the crown of glory.
To follow Jesus is to expect these. When we strive to do what is good, people will not only verbally abuse us, we will be physically and emotionally abused. People will threaten us all because we do what is right - all because we seek the approval of God.
When people destroy our reputation for doing what is right, this is also expected. When we desire to do good, people will seek to harm us whether we are present or absent. When we are present, they will abuse us verbally and emotionally and physically. When we are away, they will harm our reputation. In all these cases, we trust in the Lord's justice. Great, indeed, very great is your reward in heaven! We look forward to this reward from heaven because we know that in the end, it is the Lord will will judge us. With God, there is victory - that is why we rejoice and are exceedingly glad.
PrayerO Lord, blessed are you in the heavens for being our God. Praise you for being our Father who loves us and takes care of us. May we live our lives according to the beatitudes in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may give glory to you through Jesus our Lord.
