THE BEATIITUDES

It is difficulties, trials and tears that forge noble characters.

The Sermon on the Mount, which many writers call The Magna Carta (charter) of the Kingdom or The Compedium
(collection) of Christian Doctrine, contains the essence of the teachings of Jesus. It is the official teaching of Jesus, the
opening of his whole mind to his disciples. In Matthews introductory statement:
When he saw the crowds he went up on the mountainside. After he had sat down his disciples gathered around
him, and he began to teach them. (Mt 5:11-12)
Jesus action of sitting down to teach was a typical act of a Jewish Rabbi who delivered his official teaching. When a
Rabbi gave instruction he was usually standing or walking about, but his official teaching was done when he took his seat.
The pope still speaks ex cathedra from his seat.
The Sermon on the Mount is therefore a grave and solemn matter that summarizes the teachings of Jesus, which he
habitually gave to his disciples. It is about the essentials of Christian life.
WHAT IS BEATITUDE?
The Eight Beatitudes form the prologue to the Sermon on the Mount, which itself occupies a central place in the
Gospel narrative.
The word beatitude literally means supreme blessedness or perfect and serene joy. The human person
wants to be happy, to be more and more happy. God created us this way and this need has to be satisfied. Happiness
depends on us. We should be the authors of our happiness.
Jesus teaches us that a mans happiness is not a matter of what he possesses, or of what he has, but of WHAT HE
IS. If we love as faithful disciples of Jesus, we have in ourselves the means of being happy. God wants us to be happy
right here and now, as well as in heaven later. But Jesus does not teach us to seek happiness for the sake of happiness
for the sake of happiness because we will never succeed in satisfying all our desires. Happiness is a gift from God
resulting from our fidelity to Him. It is a consequence, not an end.
After enunciating the kingdom of God and calling his disciples, Jesus was now ready to promulgate the laws of the
kingdom. The disciples were too eager to do their task, but before prescribing what they ought to do, Jesus declared to
them WHAT THEY OUGHT TO BE. The Beatitudes describe what would be the characteristics of Christs disciples.
The Beatitudes are not statements, but exclamations. The Greek text has no verb in any of the Beatitude. For
example: Blessed the poorBlessed the pure in heartBlessed the meeketc. This means the Beatitudes are not
promises of future happiness. Rather they are congratulatory exclamations on a present bliss. They are affirmations of the
true happiness of a Christian who lives his life faithfully, as a foretaste of that real happiness which all of us are called to
share in eternal life.
What is that bliss? In Greek blessed is makarios. It describes a bliss belonging only to the gods. Hence the bliss
in the Beatitudes is no less than the blessedness of God. It is a persons happy state with respect to God. Blessedness is
not simply the subjective emotional state of the individual, but a situation deriving from that persons relationship with God.
It is a blessedness that exists here and now, not postponed to some world glory.
John calls it eternal life, the life of God. Through Jesus we are able to share in the very life of God. The word
happiness is too limited to describe the meaning of the Beatitude because happiness depends on the chances and
circumstances in life. Whereas Christian bliss is the bliss of the life of God, the joy that no man can take from us. It is a
serene joy that comes from a deep relationship with Jesus.
The Format of a Beatitude
A typical beatitude both in the OT and in the NT has three constants:
(a) The adjective blessed or makarios
(b) A subject whose behavior or happy state is described in a relative or participial clause
(c) A description that elaborates the blessedness
THE BLISS OF THE POOR
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 5:3)
Meaning of Poor
In the OT the word ani was generally translated poor and the anawim were the poor of Yahweh. Jesus spoke in
the language and thought of the OT. What he meant by poor in this first Beatitude must have taken its meaning in the OT.
The word ani underwent stages of development of meaning:
(a) The economic status of the person who had none
(b) Powerlessness and helplessness in the midst of insults and assaults of the powerful due to ones economic state
(c) The downtrodden and oppressed and pushed to nothingness in the competitive world

(d) The person who continued to put his trust and confidence on God in spite everything since there was no material
resources depend on.