A Reflection on the Beatitudes

            The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. He connects this joy and the Law in the Sermon on the Mount. These Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the end of human acts: to be with God. However, this beatitude with God confronts us with decisive moral choices. They differ in their presentation, but their content are one and the same: to be merciful, to be pure of heart, to detach ourselves from material possessions, to desire to do the will of the Father, to be a means of unity, to despise worldly power and honor, to be ready to face persecution and trials for the sake of the Kingdom.

            Christ came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. This New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection of the Old Law. It is the work of Christ and is expressed in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine promises. It fulfills the commandments of the Law. The Sermon on the Mount releases the hidden potential of the Old Law and has new demands arise from them. The world tells us to seek power, honor, wealth and pleasure. These are considered to be sources of happiness. All of the Beatitudes reject what is contrary in attaining true happiness: merciless life, ambiguities in heart, hunger for things lesser than God, material things and possession, pleasure, power and honor.

            Jesus on the cross is the authentic image of a truly blessed and happy man. He Himself, on His sacrifice on the cross, put into concrete action what the Beatitudes say. If one wants to be happy, he/she must despise what Jesus despised on the cross: wealth, power, honor and pleasure. On the cross, Jesus showed how it is to become truly happy. He was merciful to all of humanity by showing unconditional love. He was pure of heart because He has no ambiguity in His heart to do the will of the Father. His ultimate concern and hunger was not the material things of this world, but righteousness and the will of God. He was the ultimate peacemaker who has the definitive power to unite. He detached Himself from material things and wealth symbolized by His nakedness on the cross. He was not addicted to pleasure because He freely accepted suffering and death. He was not addicted to any worldly power signified by His crucified Body. He was the persecuted One who received mockery instead of honor. The Crucified Christ is the perfect exemplary of the Beatitudes.