From: Matthew 5:1-12a
The Beatitudes
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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
Jesus 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 different 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
spirit 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
happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhap-
piness 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,
independently 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.
his religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called “spiritual child-
hood”. 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. Cer-
tainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached
from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain peo-
ple — 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
attain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal
vehicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use — frequent use of the
Sacraments, 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
letter (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.
Liturgical Colour: White.
| First reading |
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| Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 © |
| I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 23(24):1-6 © |
| Second reading | 1 John 3:1-3 © |
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| We shall be like God because we shall see him as he really is |
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| Gospel Acclamation | Mt11:28 |
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| Gospel | Matthew 5:1-12a © |
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| How happy are the poor in spirit |
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