Living the Beatitudes

Good News Reflection
Monday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
June 7, 2010
Today's Readings:
1 Kings 17:1-6
Ps 121:1bc-8
Matt 5:1-12
http://www.usccb.org/nab/060710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_06_07.mp3
Living the Beatitudes
For most of this month, we're going to be hearing from the Sermon on the Mount in our daily Gospel reading. On my WordBytes website is a Bible Study on these three chapters of Matthew. It's more in-depth than the reflections I'll be emailing to you and includes discussion questions. If you're interested, please visit http://wordbytes.org/Bible/HolyLiving1.htm. (To obtain a professionally published, printer-ready copy for your Bible Study or Faith Sharing group, please go instead to http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/HolyLiving.htm.)
Jesus taught us how to fulfill our calling to holiness so that we could receive the full love of God and share it with others. All of his teachings are summed up in one place: The Sermon on the Mount.
The Beatitudes in today's Gospel passage are the introductory remarks of the sermon. They are the basic outline or stepping stones for having a more love-filled life. The first four deal with our relationship with God; the last four deal with our relationships with others.
#1 (verse 3): We are "poor in spirit" when we depend on God (the kingdom of heaven) instead of material security (the world's kingdom). We're enriched by his faithfulness, mercy and love.

#2 (verse 4): We "mourn" or feel sorrowful when we realize that we've fallen short of the glory of God by relying on the world's ways instead of God's ways. He comforts us and supports us in our efforts to detach from the world and become more like him.
#3 (verse 5): We are "meek" or "lowly" when we submit to the Father's will. Inheriting the land means that we are God's children and belong to his kingdom with all of its benefits.
#4 (verse 6): We "hunger and thirst for righteousness" when we desire to live morally or to put an end to injustices that we witness. This hunger will be satisfied because God helps us achieve righteousness.
The second half of the Beatitudes is a list of fruits that are produced by the spiritual growth that we gain in the first half.
#5 (verse 7): When we're poor in spirit and place our trust in God's mercy (verse 3), we gain the spiritual maturity to be merciful to others, which results in the blessing of receiving even more of God's mercy.
#6 (verse 8): Our sins hurt others, and when we mourn the damage we've done (verse 4), we desire to be "pure" or "clean" in our hearts, which leads us to greater holiness, and then we see God working through us to help others.
#7 (verse 9): By being meek (verse 5), we become peacemakers, because as we submit ourselves to the Father's will, we handle conflicts the way Jesus did, asserting boundaries against the sins of others without being unforgiving or retaliatory.
#8 (verses 10-12): We are like Christ when we live as he lived (verse 6), and for this reason others persecute us. They don't want to learn from our example of holiness, so they insult us and try to stop us. This is a tremendous blessing, because it lets us know that we are indeed living the Beatitudes.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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