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This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Beatitudes. Monday, March 10. Lent 2014.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:3-12

When my dad and I were blessed enough to go to Israel,
one of our favorite spots was the mount
on which Jesus is said to have established the beatitudes. 

This Sermon on the Mount is one of the more known stories in the Bible.
Most people know the gist of the Beatitudes.
Montfort brought to light a new way of looking at the Beatitudes
and applying it to life.

The word beatitude is related to the word blessed.
The word blessed is derived from both Old English and Latin
and means consecrated by blood.

Blood means pain and suffering.
This fits the Beatitudes well when we truly take a look at them-
Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst…

But they do not end in pain and suffering:

“Each of the Beatitudes promises joy as a reward for suffering endured in love and out of love.”

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven, for they shall be comforted, for they shall see God...

“The Beatitudes contrast true happiness, which only love secures, with false worldly joys.”

Even though we know in our heart of hearts what true happiness looks like,
especially compared with the false worldly joys,
we still are more attracted to the  tangible and immediate false joys of the world.

 “I have found the One Who can give peace to your restless hearts, but you are vainly looking for Him in wealth, pleasure, and power. He is the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus from Nazareth. He alone is true wealth, true joy and true power. ”

We claim that we cannot find Him
but truly,
we have been looking in the wrong places.

“The Cross stands at the very heart of all the Beatitudes in the shape of poverty of spirit, gentleness, tears, mercy, etc. This is a useful reminder for…[we] are so easily misled by the ‘beatitudes’ of the world from which the Cross has been carefully eliminated.”

This picture is from when mass was celebrated in Israel where the Sermon on the Mount took place. 


1 comment:

  1. I don't think I could ever go to the Holy Land...or any place that Jesus walked...I would be a bucket, no not a bucket but an ocean, of tears...tears of many emotions; joy, sorrow, awe, wonder, pain etc.

    Like the song, "I Can Only Imagine"...I can only imagine what it would be like and in that imagination I know that I would be an ocean of tears.

    Shouldn't that be what it is like every time we go to Mass?
    Or visit with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for Adoration?

    ???
    Mrs.O.

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