FAUSTO GOMEZ OP
Pope Francis writes movingly: the Beatitudes are “the identity card” of Christians, and portray the Master for all(EG 63). We wish to reflect first on the Beatitudes in general, and second, of Jesus as the Beatitude of God. (In two columns)
THE BEATITUDES (# 1)
In the Old Testament, “God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses. In the New Testament, Jesus gives the Beatitudes to his followers” (Germain Grisez). Jesus is the teacher of life, of our spiritual/moral life, and his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew represents the synthesis of Jesus’ teaching for the journey of life. The Beatitudes, the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, are considered a systematization of the most important sayings of the Son of God and Mary, Jesus Christ.
The concept of beatitudes in the plural is tied up or connected with the concept of beatitude in the singular, that is, of happiness in the Aristotelian sense. Thomas Aquinas defines Beatitudes as acts of the graced virtues perfected by the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, or, better, as acts of the Gifts. If happiness, that is beatitude, is the highest perfection of man, these interior dispositions of the soul, to which Jesus has insistently called beatitudes, must refer to the highest perfections, superior to the virtues and even to the Gifts (T. Urdanoz).
The Sermon on the Mount of Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain of Luke are closely connected, although there are differences: Matthew’s are more spiritual while Luke’s, more material. The Beatitudes yesterday and today are truly revolutionary – revolutionary of the values (really anti-values) of the world. They are like true bombshells. Each is a challenge for us all. One example: “Blessed are the poor” and “woe to the rich.”
For St. Ambrose, who studies the four Beatitudes of Luke, these four beatitudes are the acts of the four cardinal virtues, while for St. Augustine, who considers Matthew’s eight Beatitudes, these Beatitudes are fruits and acts of the Gifts. The Beatitudes of the Sermon of the Mountain and on the Plain are not only eschatological, but also temporal, in the sense that they speak of happiness here on earth, too. Interpreting them, St. Thomas says that the first three Beatitudes are directed to become detached from the deceiving pleasures of life: “Blessed are the poor in spirit refers to despising honors and wealth.”
In the spiritual/moral building of Saint Thomas Aquinas, we have divine grace, moral acquired/infused virtues, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (with their fruits), and the Beatitudes, which are acts of the virtues made perfect by the Gifts (cf. STh, I-II, 69-70). The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Beatitudes are components of the virtues and belong to a virtuous life. The Beatitudes are like the top of the mountain of moral life, of Christian perfection and holiness to which all Christian are called.
The dynamic journey of Fundamental Moral Theology begins with a meditation on beatitude, and it closes with a reflection on the Beatitudes. Moral Theology, therefore, is a journey to beatitude (the final end, God, full happiness) by the virtuous practice (the means) of the Beatitudes.
The Beatitudes are the Magna Carta of Christians, but not just to reach heaven: happiness begins here, today.All the Beatitudes have a common denominator, namely happiness: the eight Beatitudes are really- as Cabodevilla writes – eight forms of happiness, that is, “the deep happiness that is found in taking the Gospel and its consequences seriously. In a certain manner, all of them coincide with poverty and humility” (J. L. Larrabe).
Guided by the Doctor Angelicus, we say a few words on each of the eight Beatitudes of Matthew (Mt 5:3:12).
Blessed are the poor in spirit.The first Beatitude, poverty in spirit, is present in all the others: the poor in spirit are also those who mourn, the meek, the hungry for justice, the merciful, and the pure of heart. Blessed are the poor in spirit, that is (in new translation), Blessed are those who know their need of God; the Kingdom of God is theirs. To be poor in spirit implies, too, to share our goods with the poor. (“A man can have no money in his pocket and yet have his soul full of avarice” (Venerable Fulton Sheen).
Blessed are the meek. The second Beatitude refers to those who conquer their passions, in particular impatience and anger. The meek are those who give themselves totally to God and are kind, benevolent and beneficent to the neighbor.
Blessed are those who mourn. That is, those who triumph over the passions of concupiscence. These are happy because they place their consolation in God and bear their sufferings – the cross – patiently and even joyfully with and after Christ.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, andBlessed are the merciful.Beatitudes fourth and fifth refer to the active life, to the perfect deeds of the active life that lead to happiness: deeds of justice and mercy – of merciful justice.
Blessed are the pure of heart,and Blessed are the peacemakers. Beatitudes sixth and seventh refer to acts of the contemplative life. In the sixth, the purification of all the passions in the interior of the spirit. In the seventh, the purification of all the bad affections in relation to life with our neighbor.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil falsely on my account. The eighth Beatitude is like the crowning and confirmation of all the others: one will endure any persecution, if he is poor in spirit, meek, merciful… Thomas asserts that really seven is the number of the Beatitudes: the eighth Beatitude repeats the first, and seven are, too, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. STh, I-II, 69).
As pilgrims of hope on the way to full happiness, we hope and we rejoice in hope. This hope is “believing in the beatitudes in spite of appearance.” With this graced hope, “the one who weeps is happy now at the present time.” This is why we “hope against hope” (Jacques Ellul, Selected Spiritual Writings). We are needy.Hope prays!
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