THE BEATITUDES Living the Virtues of Jesus THE LAW OF LOVE The Beatitudes are part of the New Law of God. The Old Law was given to us in the Ten Commandments. The Commandments lay out for us the minimal requirements for loving God and our neighbor. They prohibit those things that are directly opposed to love (murder, theft, adultery, etc.) and require the bare minimum of what is required for us to love (keeping the Sabbath Day holy, honoring our parents, etc.). At the beginning of the chapter on Matthew that you just read, you heard Jesus say that He did not come to abolish the Old Law, but to fulfill it. This means that Christ's teachings fulfill the original purpose of the Old Testament - to teach us how to love. But since God is love (1 John 4:16) and Jesus is God, then Jesus must be teaching us to be like Himself. That is exactly the point. Jesus does not just give us the New Law. Jesus is the New Law. The goal of the New Law is to receive the grace that Jesus offers us and to cooperate with that grace in order to become more like Christ. The Beatitudes are virtues of Jesus. They teach us to be like Jesus, and therefore they teach us to love more perfectly. Blessed are...... for they... the poor (in spirit) shall inherit the Kingdom of God the meek shall inherit the earth they who mourn shall be comforted
they that hunger and thirst after justice shall be satisfied the merciful shall be shown mercy the pure of heart shall see God the peacemakers shall be called the children of God they that suffer persecution for Jesus sake shall inherit the Kingdom of God BEATITUDE & GRACE In the Tradition of the Church, there are two explanations of the Beatitudes. 1. The Beatitudes are circumstances in which we are forced to rely on God s grace and power because we are at the end of our own. For example, the poor are often much more faith-filled than the rich because they are very aware of their own weakness and of their need for God. 2. The Beatitudes are virtues that the follower of Christ must strive to live in order to become more like Christ. It s one thing to find ourselves poor due to life s circumstances; it s another thing altogether to embrace poverty, no matter what our actual wealth may be, by detaching from material possessions (in other words, putting relationships before things).
Not only are both of these interpretations of Jesus words legitimate, they actually both reflect the core duality of the Christian life. A follower of Christ lives in two worlds: the world of dependence on and trust in God the world of freedom and selfdetermination On one hand, we are called to put our complete trust in God. Human beings do not have the power to conquer sin on their own, or to have a relationship with God. Without God we are helpless orphans, without the power to find true happiness. God gives us grace (His divine presence in our souls) to make us His children, to make it possible for us to conquer sin and embrace His love, and thereforee to find true happiness. In this sense, the Beatitudes tell us that difficult situations in our lives such as poverty or powerlessness can lead us to a deeper trust in God. Through this trust, we discover that God is all we need to bring us true happiness. BEATITUDES & VIRTUE On the other hand, if we (like naughty children) fail to trust God and to seek His grace, God will not force Himself on us. God respects our free will. This respect leads God to require us not only to freely place our trust in Him to receive grace, but to actively cooperate with grace in order to do the hard work of conversion and growth in virtue. In this case, the beatitudes teach us that to live out our destinies as children of God we must strive to grow in the virtues of Christ in order to become more like Him. A virtue is a firm habit to do what is authentically good for us. A moral virtue is a firm habit to do what will make us authentically good people. Like all habits, virtues are created by repeating
actions or choices over and over again until they become part of who we are. Growth in virtue often requires us to have a deliberate plan. While some good moral habits are automatic for us, based on who we are, others have to be sought out, learned about, and worked for. The Beatitudes are virtues that help us to focus on God and Heaven, which is the true source of our happiness in this life and in Heaven. There are many things in this world that, while good when used as God intended us to use them, can distract us from what is truly important our relationship with God. See if you can match each of the Beatitudes with this list of things that could distract us from God. Then fill in the table below using the match that you made to define how each Beatitude helps us to avoid becoming obsessed with the good and focus on God. The obsession would go in the right column (the opposite of the virtue). Here s the list of distractions: Revenge Worldly (temporary) happiness Power Comfortable, lukewarm faith Riches Self-centered lifestyle Partial dedication to God (a division between faith and everyday life) Worry & competition
There are probably a few different ways you could match the Beatitudes to the distractions. The point is to learn what Jesus means by each of these eight virtues. Beatitude the poor (in spirit) Define the Virtue Being detached from a love for wealth temperance (a balance of our desires) and generosity What is its Opposite? Obsessed with riches, material goods & possessions (materialism) the meek they who mourn Focusing on love (the good of others) & relationships rather than on power. Using power according to its true purpose - true power is the ability to do what is good for others Compassion = sharing the sorrow of those who suffer (physically or spiritually) Compunction = sadness over your own sin Obsessed with power Obsession with Worldly (temporary) happiness, making us blind to evil in the world Complacency, laziness
they that hunger and thirst after justice Fortitude courage to fight for what is truly right. Justice the habit to give to each person what is due to him or her. Self-centered lifestyle the merciful Mercy = the willingness to give up the right for justice out of love for the one who has wronged you OR love of others in the midst of their suffering Anger (as a sin, not an emotion) & Revenge = an inordinate (unbalanced) desire for justice, usually mixed with hatred for the person (hatred means seeing the person as evil). the pure of heart Purity means first and foremost focus. The pure in heart are those who are focused on Christ, who have dedicated everything they are to loving and serving Him. Partial dedication to God (a division between faith and everyday life)
the peacemakers Being a peacemaker begins with fostering internal peace contentment with what we have and a quieting of our desires and worries. This is founded on a relationship with Jesus if we have Him we need nothing else. In relationships, being a peacemaker requires contentment as well. We cannot be at peace with others when we are always competing for what they have. Worry & competition they that suffer persecution for Jesus sake Willingness to take our relationship with Christ seriously, to give everything we are to Christ, even our very lives. Being a disciple often means being willing to stand up against sin in our culture. This requires fortitude (moral courage). Comfortable, faith lukewarm MAKING US LIKE CHRIST The purpose of the Beatitudes both as grace and as virtue is to make us more like Christ. By becoming more like Christ, we come to live out our roles as the adopted children of God. Jesus not only taught the Beatitudes, He lived them. Think about the stories of Jesus you have heard. Which stories illustrate each of Jesus virtues?
BEATITUDE HOW DID JESUS DISPLAY THIS VIRTUE? Blessed are the poor (in spirit) Though he was God, Jesus chose to be born in a poor, working-class family and live the life of a worker. Jesus never asked for payment for any healings or other ways that he served people. Blessed are the meek Jesus came to earth as a helpless baby, under the authority of human parents. He also was led to the Cross without a struggle. In both cases he gave up his power as God out of love for us. Blessed are they who mourn Jesus was often moved by compassion when he saw people suffering, and when he saw people who were lost, like sheep without a shepherd. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus Jesus affirmed the worth and dignity of sinners and outcasts even when he was criticized Blessed are the merciful Jesus forgave those who crucified him Jesus forgave the adulteress Blessed are the pure of heart Jesus was always focused on doing the will of the Father. He spent quiet time in prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane he prays, Not my will but yours be done.
Blessed are the peacemakers Jesus is content. He resists temptation in the desert because He knows that Man does not live by bread alone. He is not driven by the need for material possessions, power, or praise. He is at peace. When the disciples complain that others are driving out demons in Jesus name, Jesus is not jealous of these others, not competitive. He says, Whoever is not against me is for me. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for Jesus sake Jesus was persecuted, and he forgave those who persecuted him. MAKING A PLAN We have explored what it means to live the Beatitudes as children who trust in their Heavenly Father, and what it means to live the Beatitudes as virtues to strive for in our quest to become more like Christ. As we saw at the beginning of this lesson, growing in any virtue requires us to make a deliberate plan. Let s think about that now. Thinking about the definition of each Beatitude as a virtue, what can you do to grow in each Beatitude?