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When Jesus 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.” Matthew 5: 1–3
Today we celebrate one of the most glorious solemnities within our
Church! Every saint, canonized or not, is honored today. Our Gospel
passage lays out the path by which these saints entered Heaven.
While on earth, these great men and women lived lives that were
poor in spirit, filled with a holy mourning, meekness, a hunger and
thirst for righteousness, mercy, peace, purity of heart and even
persecution. Each one of these Beatitudes concludes by stating the
reward that those who lived these qualities obtains: Heaven,
comfort, satisfaction, mercy, seeing God, being children of God and
rewards beyond what we can imagine in God’s Kingdom.
The Beatitudes invite us to the heights of holiness. They are not
for the faint of heart or for those living a lukewarm spiritual
life. These Beatitudes present us with the pinnacle of holy living
and challenge us to the core. But every effort put into living
these Beatitudes are worth it here on earth and ultimately in
Heaven. Let’s look briefly at two of these Beatitudes.
The second Beatitude states that those “who mourn...will be
comforted.” This is an interesting Beatitude. Why is it holy to
mourn? Simply put, this form of holy mourning means that you not
only have a holy sorrow for your own sins but that you have this
holy sorrow as you see the many evils within our world. This is
crucial today. First, it should be quite obvious that we must have
holy sorrow for our own sins. Doing so means your conscience is
working. And when your conscience is working, you will be
compelled, by this holy sorrow, to acknowledge your offenses
against God and work diligently to change. But we must also have a
holy sorrow as we see the many evils within our world. Too often
today there is a tendency to undermine this Beatitude by presenting
universal acceptance of all things as a good. We are told we must
not judge, and though that is true when it comes to judging
another’s heart, a worldly presentation of this secular “virtue”
attempts to lead us to downplay the objective nature of sin. Our
secular world tempts us to ignore many objective moral truths by
which God guides us into all truth. But as Christians, our first
approach must be to despise all that our Lord taught was
objectively morally evil. And when we do come face-to-face with
immoral lifestyles, the appropriate response must be holy sorrow,
not acceptance of grave sin. To mourn over another’s poor choices
is a true act of charity toward them.
The fourth Beatitude calls us to “hunger and thirst for
righteousness.” This means that we not only have a holy sorrow over
our sins and the objective evils of our world, but that we also
allow ourselves to be filled with a hunger and thirst for truth and
holy living. This drive must become a burning motivation within us
to do all we can to further the Kingdom of God everywhere. This
Beatitude enables us to overcome indifference, inspiring us to
bring about change in the face of all opposition. And this drive is
fueled by charity and every other accompanying virtue.
Reflect, today, upon the beautiful truth that you are called to
become a saint. And the surest path to sainthood is the Beatitudes.
Read them carefully. Meditate upon them and know that they reveal
to you how God is calling you to live. If one of these Beatitudes
stands out to you, then spend time focusing upon it. Work to
internalize these graces, and God will work wonders in your life,
one day making this solemnity within our Church a true celebration
of your life well lived.
My most holy Lord, You reign now in Heaven and desire that Your
glorious Kingdom be firmly established upon earth. Give me the
grace I need to seek holiness with all my heart and to especially
use Your revelation of the Beatitudes as the path by which I
travel. I pray that I will become a true saint in this world and
that You will use me to further Your Kingdom now and for eternity.
Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: The Holy Trinity and Saints in
Glory, a sketch for a ceiling by Sebastiano Conca, via Wikimedia
Commons
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