The gospel this weekend presents to us the Lucan version of the Beatitudes, known as the Sermon of the Plain, taking the cue from Luke’s description that Jesus “came down with the twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples” and began to teach the Beatitudes. Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes is known as the Sermon of the Mount, as he presented Jesus teaching from a mountain.
What are the beatitudes? The beatitudes are commentaries of Jesus on the Ten Commandments. They spell out how the commandments can be applied in practical ways to our day-to-day life. Biblical scholars refer them to as the “New Testament Decalogue.” Both the Ten Commandments and the beatitudes are divinely revealed; they aren’t just constructs of human reason, but came from God himself. If that is the case, one must pay special
attention to them as our GPS towards heaven, towards eternal life. Beatitudes are indispensable in our journey back to God.
When Jesus taught the beatitudes, he wasn’t teaching them as something apart from him. When he talks about the blessedness of the poor, the merciful, the righteousness, the meek, the pure of heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted for the sake of the kingdom, he was basically exhorting his disciples to follow his lead, to strive to be like him as those great virtues find their ultimate expression in Jesus. Jesus then IS the Beatitudes par excellence since he fully embodies all of them. Ultimately, the beatitudes aren’t just words, but a person, the very person of Christ.
To strive to live the beatitudes then is to actively configure ourselves to the very person of Christ, echoing what St. Paul famously said, “it is no longer I who lives in me but Christ.”
Poverty in spirit – Is the kingdom of God my ultimate treasure? Do I actively strive for the riches of heaven?
Mercy – Even before sin entered the world, God was already merciful. Mercy then is fundamentally creative, not just redemptive; meaning it creates something new in as much as it restores us to God’s grace. Who is that person in my life right now that would greatly benefit from my own forgiveness? Be that person that creates new life, thus restoring that person anew.
Righteousness – Do I seek goodness for its own sake? Or, do I pursue goodness out of fear or simply to avoid punishment? Saint Teresa of Avila, a 16
th century saint, captures this point so well in a prayer that she personally composed, “My God, because you are so good, I love you with all my heart, and for your sake I love my neighbor as myself. If I love you, it is not just because of heaven, which you promised; if I fear to offend you, it is not
because hell threatens me. What draws me to you, O Lord, is yourself alone, it is the sight of you, nailed to the cross for me, your body bruised in the pains of death. Your love so holds my heart that, if there were no heaven,
I would love you still. If there were no hell I would even still fear to offend you. I do not need your gifts to make me love you, for even if I should have no help of hope at all the things I do hope for, I would still love you with that very same love. Amen.”
Meekness – Do I relate with people with gentleness, or do I discriminate?
These are just some of the things that we can reflect on in our pursuit of holiness by way of the beatitudes. How are we growing in our configuration to the image of Christ? – Fr. Cary