Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
The beatitudes
When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 7 for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Mt 5,1-12
The Beatitudes are at the heart Jesus’s preaching. They represent the goal, the way and the daily practice to reclaim our identity as creatures put on this earth to live in peace with themselves, with society, with nature and with God. Taken as a whole, the Beatitudes paint the face, the character and the Spirit of Jesus. They create the climate and the air one breathes in the Kingdom of Heaven, and which should be established in every family, so that the union of couple can be achieved over time and the children can grow, developing peacefully, day after day, their personality and features. The Beatitudes respond to the innate desire for happiness that God has placed in our heart since our birth. The Beatitudes allow you to pursue the peace of the heart, which is the ideal state for the manifestations of the Spirit and to obtain the divine grace, beginning with the intervention of Providence. The Holy Spirit is often represented by a dove, but where no calm and peace are, doves fly away. In order to figure out the spiritual state that the beatitudes give, just look at the scene of a baby sucking milk from his mother.
The climate of the Beatitudes is built day after day, living our days with simplicity and fidelity with the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. At the end of life, the practice of the Beatitudes will allow us to surrender peacefully the project we have fulfilled to God’s mercy, along with the final report of the talents we received.