From: Matthew 5:1-12

The Beatitudes

[1] Seeing the crowds, He (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when He sat
down His disciples came to Him. [2] And He opened His mouth and taught them,
saying: [3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
[4] Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. [5] Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [6] Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [7] Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy. [8] Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see
God. [9] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
[10] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is
the Kingdom of Heaven. [11] Blessed are you when men revile you and perse-
cute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. [12] Re-
joice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven, for so men persecuted the
prophets who were before you.”

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Commentary:

1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St.
Matthew’s Gospel — Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of Je-
sus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of our
Lord’s teaching.

It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various tea-
chings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a
person must have for entering the Kingdom of Heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt
of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the
Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the “Our Father”
would be included); 3) trust in God’s fatherly providence; 4) how God’s children
should behave towards one another (not judging one’s neighbor, respect for ho-
ly things, the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the con-
ditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building
on rock).

“He taught them”: this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can
be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).

2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the
Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind
that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed
here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet
the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek,
those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful,
the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their
search for holiness—these are not different people or kinds of people but diffe-
rent demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.

Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to
everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spi-
rit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.

All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us de-
finitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes
does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply
a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates
things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly hap-
piness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness
and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual
goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the
sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor—all are called, indepen-
dently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by
those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.

The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but
they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.

3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious
concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah
2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility to-
wards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to
God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God’s mercy to be
saved. This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called “spiri-
tual childhood”. A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God,
a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to
God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be
detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks
certain people — religious — to be legally detached from ownership and thereby
bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.

4. “Those who mourn”: here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suf-
fer from any kind of affliction — particularly those who are genuinely sorry for their
sins, or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their
suffering with love and in a spirit of atonement.

“You are crying? Don’t be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when
they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with
tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and
supernaturalize your present life” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 216).

The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who
weep for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness
and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.

5. “The meek”: those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain
serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or
discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life.
Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and
interior peace.

“The earth”: this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.

6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially reli-
gious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22
and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God,
which is discovered in the commandments, in one’s duties of state in life (social,
professional and family responsibilities) and through one’s life of prayer. Thus,
righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is
usually called “holiness” (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6;
Deuteronomy 9:4).

As St. Jerome comments (”Comm. on Matthew”, 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude
our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we
should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek
what makes a man righteous in God’s eyes. A person who genuinely wants to at-
tain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal ve-
hicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use—frequent use of the Sa-
craments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet
one’s social, professional and family responsibilities.

7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being under-
standing towards other people’s defects, overlooking them, helping them cope
with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being mer-
ciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.

8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart,
that is, in a man’s soul, in the depths of his spirit. “When we speak of a person’s
heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving
dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses
the expression ‘heart’ in its full human meaning, as the summary and source,
expression and ultimate basis, of one’s thoughts, words and actions. A man is
worth what his heart is worth” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 164).

Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love,
in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says,
“whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, what-
ever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God’s
grace, a Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this
purity, whose reward is the vision of God.

9. The translation “peacemakers” well convey the active meaning of the original
text — those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for
that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with
God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not
based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.

“They shall be called sons of God”: this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred
Scripture; it is the same as saying “they will be sons of God”. St. John’s first let-
ter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: “See what love the Father
has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are”.

10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted
because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.

Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and
who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian’s
life that call for heroism—where no compromise is admissible: either one stays
true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions,
or one denies Him. St. Bernard (”Sermon on the Feast of All Saints”) says that
the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every
Christian who is faithful to Jesus’ teaching is in fact a “martyr” (a witness) who
reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo phy-
sical death.

11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the King-
dom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invi-
tation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is
no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

2 Corinthians 1:1-7 ©

From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, one of the brothers, to the church of God at Corinth and to all the saints in the whole of Achaia. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves. Indeed, as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow. When we are made to suffer, it is for your consolation and salvation. When, instead, we are comforted, this should be a consolation to you, supporting you in patiently bearing the same sufferings as we bear. And our hope for you is confident, since we know that, sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolations.

Psalm

Psalm 33:2-9 ©