Understanding the Beatitudes through the Great
Commentaries
February 13, 2007
Dev Thakur
Seeing the crowds, he went up
on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And
he opened his
mouth and taught them saying:
Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my
account. Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the
prophets who were
before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)
It is not without
reason that the beatitudes are disposed of in this order. Each preceding one
prepares the way for what immediately follows, furnishing us in particular with
spiritual arms of such graces as are necessary for obtaining the virtue of the
subsequent beatitude. Thus the poor in spirit, i.e. the truly humble, will
mourn for their transgressions, and whoever is filled with sorrow and confusion
for his own sins, cannot but be just, and behave to others with meekness and
clemency; when possessed of these virtues, he then becomes pure and clean of
heart. Peace of conscience reigns in this assemblage of virtues, and cannot be
expelled the soul by any tribulations, persecutions, or injustices of men. (St.
Chrysostom, hom. xv.)
What is this
poverty of spirit, but humility and contrition? This virtue of humility is
placed in the first place, because it is the parent of every other virtue, as
pride is the mother of every vice. Pride deprived our first parents of their
original innocence, and nothing but humility can restore us to our former
purity. We may pray and fast, we may be possessed of mercy, chastity, or any
virtues, if humility do not accompany them, they will
be like the virtue of the Pharisee, without foundation, without fruit. (Hom. xv.)
“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. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way,
216).
1: When the
LORD restored the fortunes of
2: Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
3: The LORD has done great things for
us; we are glad.
4: Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like
the watercourses in the Negeb!
5: May those who sow in tears reap
with shouts of joy!
6: He that goes forth weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his
sheaves with him. (Psalm 126)
For godly
grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but
worldly grief produces death (2 Cor
But the meek shall possess
the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity (Psalms 37:11).
"They shall
possess the land," is the reward annexed by our Saviour
to meekness, that he might not differ in any point from the old law, so well
known to the persons he was addressing. David, in psalm xxxvi, had made the
same promise to the meek. If temporal blessings are promised to some of the
virtues in the beatitudes, it is that temporal blessings might always accompany
the more solid rewards of grace. But spiritual rewards are always the
principal, always ranked in the first place, all who practice these virtues are
pronounced blessed. (Hom. xv.)
“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 righteousness 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.” (The
Now there was a man of the
Pharisees, named Nicode'mus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless
God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born anew, he cannot see the
To be peaceful
ourselves and with others, and to bring such as are at variance together, will
entitle us to be children of God. Thus we shall be raised to a participation in
the honour of the only begotten Son of God, who
descended from heaven to bring peace to man, and to reconcile him with his
offended Creator. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xv.)
Heretics and
malefactors suffer occasionally, but they are not on this account blessed,
because they suffer not for justice. For, says
If the world hates you, know
that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world
would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out
of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to
you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they
will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on my
account, because they do not know him who sent me.
(John 15:19-21)
Beloved, do not be surprised
at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something
strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's
sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the
spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a
murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; yet if one suffers
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify
God. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and
if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel
of God? And "If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the
impious and sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to
God's will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator. (1 Peter
4:12-19).
And he lifted up his eyes on
his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom
of
God.
Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you that weep
now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you,
and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven;
for so their fathers did
to the prophets.
But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your
consolation.
Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger.
Woe to you that laugh now,
for you shall mourn and weep.
Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the
false prophets.
(Luke
6:20-26)
The eight Beatitudes which
Not that every
one under great poverty is happy, but that the man who prefers the poverty of
Christ to the riches of the world, ought certainly to be esteemed such. Many
indeed are poor in worldly substance, but are avaricious in affection; to such
as these poverty is no advantage. (
Nothing that is
against the will, merits reward; therefore all virtue is known by the will.
Blessed, therefore, are the poor, who bear poverty for the sake of Christ: he
himself hath already trodden the path before us, and taught us by his example
that it leads to honour and enjoyment. (St. Cyril in
St. Thomas Aquinas)
Although in great
riches there are great inducements to sin, yet there are not wanting even in
that state great incitements to virtue; neither is this woe aimed against those
who abound in affluence; but against "those who abuse that affluence which
"The ordinary Christian has to
reconcile two aspects of this life that can at first seem contradictory. There is on the one hand "true
poverty", which is obvious and tangible and made up of definite
things. This poverty should be an
expression of faith in God and a sign that the heart is not satisfied with created
things and aspires to the Creator; that it wants to be filled with love of God
so as to be able to give this same love to everyone. On the other hand, an ordinary Christian is
and wants to be "one more among his fellow men", sharing their way of
life, their joys and happiness; working with them, loving
the world and all the good things that
exist in it; using all created things to solve the problems of human life and
to establish a spiritual and material environment which will foster personal
and social development [....] To my way
of thinking the best examples of poverty are those mothers and fathers of large
and poor families who spend their lives for their children and who with their
effort and constancy--often without complaining of their needs -- bring up
their family, creating a cheerful home in which everyone learns to love, to
serve and to work" ([St] J. Escriva,
"Conversations", 110f).
"Listen, poor man, to my comments on your words. When you refer to
yourself as Lazarus, that holy man covered with wounds, I am afraid your pride
makes you describe yourself incorrectly.
Do not despise rich men who are merciful, who are humble: or, to put it
briefly, do not despise poor rich men. Oh, poor man, be poor yourself; poor,
that is, humble [...]. Listen to me,
then. Be truly poor, be devout, be humble; if you glory in your ragged and
ulcerous poverty, if you glory in likening yourself to that beggar lying
outside the rich man's house, then you are only noticing his poverty, and
nothing else. What should I notice you ask?
Read the Scriptures and you will understand what I mean. Lazarus was poor, but he to whose bosom he
was brought was rich. `It came to pass, it is written, that the poor man died
and he was brought by the angels to Abraham's bosom.' To where?
To Abraham's bosom, or let us say, to that mysterious place where
Abraham was resting. Read [...] and
remember that Abraham was a very wealthy man when he was on earth: he had
abundance of money, a large family, flocks, land; yet that rich man was poor,
because he was humble. `Abraham believed
God and he was reckoned righteous.' [...] He was faithful, he did good, received
the commandment to offer his son in sacrifice, and he did not refuse to offer
what he had received to Him from whom he had received it. He was approved in God's sight and set before
us as an example of faith" ("Sermon", 14).
As before he promised blessings to those that
hunger, that weep, that are outcasts for Christ's sake; so here, and in the
next verse, he denounces curses to such as are filled, that laugh, and are praised;
i.e. to such, as so far seek their beatitude in present enjoyment, as to become
indifferent with regard to the good things of the next world. (Haydock)
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver
have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your
flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages
of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out;
and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You
have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your
hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous
man; he does not resist you. (James 5:1-6)