Beatitudes

1. THE BEAUTITUDES WHAT IS A BEATITUDE?

2. What it is not? are not a series of commands: be merciful! act as peacemakers! Rather they picture for us the face of Christ in sketching the vocation of every disciple of Christ, drawn to share in His Passion and Resurrection.

3. They present the qualities, actions, and attitudes of Christ’s disciple

5. offer the paradoxical promises which sustain hope in our tribulations

7. The blessings of the Kingdom to the compassionate and the pure-hearted; to those who turn from violence and seek reconciliation.

9. First Beatitude Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

10. Significance “poor in spirit”-not identified with the materially poor rich or poor who put their confidence only in God They can be poor but even the rich could live in total dependence on God

11. To be “poor in spirit” means to realize that salvation is not achieved by our own efforts or by what we have It is realizing our utter powerlessness apart from God Significance

12. Witness of Faith A teenage girl named Anne got a summer job working as a maid in a hotel at an ocean side resort. She cleaned ten rooms every day. She met all kinds of interesting people, including celebrities. Of all people she met, Mr. Smith stood out from all others. One weekend, Mr. Smith showed up with only one overnight bag. As Anne went into his room to clean, he told her not to clean his room and just asked for clean towels.

13. Witness of Faith Anne clean his room. He even helped fixed his bed. That Saturday, while Anne was walking down the lane on her way to a 4:30 Mass, a car pulled up next to her. It was Mr. Smith and he invited Anne for a ride. While inside the car, Mr. Smith asked her a series of questions such as: How often did she go to Mass? Why did she go when lots of teenagers didn’t? How good were the sermons?

14. Witness of Faith She replied “Come and see.” Mr. Smith asked Anne if he could go with her. She was quite uneasy about Mr. Smith’s odd questions. She felt at ease when Mr. Smith knelt down and kept his eyes shut throughout the Mass. After the Mass, he got up and hurriedly went out without saying goodbye. The next day Anne went to clean his room but he was not there anymore. Instead there was a box with a note attached.

15. Dear Anne, The gift inside the box is for the beautiful thing you’ve done for me without even knowing it. My marriage has been rather shaky lately—so much so that I finally told my wife that I was moving out for a few days to think things over. The more I thought, the more confused I got. Then you came along. You invited me to “come and see.” Your beautiful faith in God touched me deeply.

16. When I attended Mass with you, it was for the first time in ten years. During that Mass God gave me an insight into my problems and the desire to stay with my wife. I’m going home, grateful to God and grateful to you for being a shining light at a time when my world was very dark. I will never forget you for helping me rediscover my faith.

17. Second Beatitude Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

18. refers to those who are sincere and who have the compassion for those who suffer such as the lowly, the bereaved, the victim of injustice, the oppressed, the ones who experience poverty, loneliness, rejection,

19. Concrete Example The prisoners who are innocent of the crime of which they are accused, those who suffer from prejudice or because of their faith or principles. They who are able to bring comfort to these persons who suffer are blessed.

20. When Will I Die?” In 1910 a newspaper column carried the following story. Jimmy, age 10, was a devoted brother to his sister, age 6. He nearly panicked when his sister fell off her bicycle and cut a large artery in her leg. The bleeding was profuse, and by the time the doctor arrived at the scene, the little girl was close to dying.

21. When Will I Die?” At that time blood transfusions were not yet common. Carrying the girl into the house, the doctor managed to clamp the cut ends of the artery, but the little girl’s heart was still failing. In desperation the doctor turned to Jimmy and asked, “Jimmy will you give me some of your blood to help your little sister’s life?”

22. When Will I Die?” Jimmy swallowed hard, but nodded his head. So the doctor placed him on the kitchen table and began withdrawing blood from one of his veins. Then he injected the blood directly into the little girl’s vein.

23. When Will I Die?” For the next 30 minutes, the doctor and the family anxiously watched over the little girl and prayed. The doctor kept his stethoscope over her heart to check if it was beating. Finally she was over the crisis. The doctor wiped the perspiration off his brow. Only then did he notice that Jimmy was still stretched out on the kitchen table, tense and trembling.

24. When Will I Die?” “Wh-when will I die?” replied Jimmy through clenched teeth. The doctor realized that Jimmy misunderstood what the request for his blood really meant. Jimmy imagined that his sister was going to need all his blood, which meant that Jimmy, though hesitating a moment and swallowing hard at the doctor’s original request, had silently agreed to die for his little sister!

25. When Will I Die?” The doctor had tears in his eyes as he reassured Jimmy that he had extracted only a little of his blood for his sister, and that Jimmy was not going to die. Jimmy was willing to sacrifice even his life, so that his sister might live.

26. Third Beatitude Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

27. Significance Meek are those who have surrendered themselves completely to God. Meekness is not passive resignation or servile conformism. Rather it is the openness to the future which God wants to realize through us. It means being non-violent.

28. Significance It means being non-violent. The meek are not easily provoked to anger, they have a heart that is tranquil, calm, serene, and peaceful. They also have the heart of correcting the wrong.

29. Fourth Beatitude Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied

30. Significance Hunger and thirst refer to an ardent desire for God. It is a longing for what is upright, virtuous, and morally right. A desire for what is true and just.

31. Significance The satisfaction expressed in this beatitude refers to an inner joy and peace that one can experience through his efforts in seeking God’s righteousness. It is a satisfaction found only in God.

32. Fifth Beatitude Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy

33. Meaning of Mercy Mercy is not merely a feeling or emotion, rather an action. The merciful are those whose heart is tender and who truly feel in the deepest parts of their being, the pain and the suffering of those who need help.

34. More importantly, they are merciful to individuals and go out of their way and make the effort to help the needy. Not isolated, occasional acts of charity but living out the daily experience of compassion

35. Sixth Beatitude Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.

36. Clean of Heart This Beatitude speaks of those whose motives are undivided, those who are sincere and single minded. “Clean of heart” refers to those who put God at the center of their lives. It also means total commitment to God’s will and plan.

37. Clean of Heart The promise to those clean of heart is to see God, which means, a vision of God, an intimate experience of God’s presence in one’s life. “Truly, God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart” (Ps. 73:1)

38. Test in Honesty The professor told his class, “Today I’m giving two examinations—one in calculus and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. But if you must fail one, then fail calculus. There are many good people in the world who cannot pass calculus, but there are no good people in the world who cannot past the test of honesty.”

39. Seventh Beatitude Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God

40. Peacemakers The ones who are blessed are not those having peaceful lives, not the ones who are quiet, neither those who are peacekeepers.

41. Peacemakers The Beatitude is directed to those who commit themselves to social justice. They are those who make efforts to share and bring peace to everyone.

42. 8th Beatitude Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

43. Persecution It does not merely refer to any other kind of persecution but the persecution for righteousness- for Christ It is following Christ even amidst strong oppositions.

44. Persecution They are persecuted because of doing what is good. “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” (Mt. 5:11-12).

45. “If you wish to be my disciple, pick up your cross, and follow me…”

46. “Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a Cross.” Phil 2:6-8