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Breaking Open Word

The Beatitudes reveal what it is to be like Christ. They are the program, the formula in the progress to Christian perfection. They do not promise salvation only to particular kinds of people: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted. We are to be all of these people in our growth in becoming more like Christ. And the beatitudes promise the rewards for each step. Blessed are the poor in spirit, which means humility. This is the opposite of pride. Humility is the beginning step to being more like Christ, the giving up self to God. Pride will always prevent any progress toward any of the other steps, and must be first conquered. Blessed are they who mourn. With humility in the greatness of God, you can truly be sorry for your sins, and they can weigh heavily on you. Fear of the Lord, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is having such a deep respect and awe of God that you disdain and avoid sin out of reverence. Likewise you dread your past sins; but Jesus says you will be comforted. A good confession is like a heavy weight lifted off of you. Blessed are the meek, controlled strength. The promise is to not conquer the land but to inherit it. The meek will gain it through patience, kindness, trusting in God, the very nature of Jesus. It is also the letting go of anger and rage. The land which we really want to inherit is our home in heaven. Read Psalm 37 which repeats this theme over and over. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. A righteous person is one who strives to do the will of God through prayer and obeying the commandments and in relationship with others. Building on the previous beatitudes, the righteous person wants to strive for holiness in God’s eyes. Read Psalm 63:1-3. God thirsts for you so you might thirst for Him (St. Augustine). Blessed are the merciful. Showing mercy to others is a natural result of growing in righteousness. It allows a person to show compassion and understanding to others in their shortcomings and faults and sufferings. It is also mindful of the Lord’s Prayer when we say “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” That word AS is a powerful word, for we may be condemning ourselves with it, without mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart. Christ speaks often of the heart, and scripture makes reference to the heart as the source of one’s thoughts, words, and actions. The promise is that they will see God. With a purity of heart they have a much closer relationship with God and they will start to see God in the face of every person they meet as well. Blessed are the peacemakers. As we grow in the beatitudes we become more peaceful and wish to encourage peace not only in ourselves but in everyone we encounter, trying to bring others to the peace that is found only in God. We know that no other peace on earth compares to the peace found with God. As we progress to this level as followers of Christ, we openly share our faith in Jesus to the world, in fact it’s very hard to hold it in. We are truly children of God. But going back to the second reading, the world may not know us because though we live in the world, we are not of the world. This sad situation leads to the next beatitude. Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness. So blessed are they who suffer for being true to Jesus. Up until now we’ve been on a personal growth, now we are dealing with the world who sometimes hates Jesus. Sometimes we have to take a stand for our faith that is not popular in the secular world, and sometimes the world will persecute us for it. This last beatitude tell us to remember that our gain is the kingdom of heaven, here on earth and as a saint when we die. Finally, the beatitudes close with a warning of how the world can persecute us for being a follower of Jesus and that we are to rejoice for our reward is great in heaven. Read Acts 6:40-42 of how the apostles reacted to this situation; they rejoiced in their punishment and refused to stop proclaiming Jesus even when imprisoned and flogged.

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