Scripture: II Cor.1:1-7. Psalm 34:2-3.6-7.Matthew 5:1-12. Lectionary # 359:

All of Paul's first chapters are remarkable. They give us a greeting, a
prayer, and the purpose for the letter and/or epistle. II Cor. is composed
of several lettters made into one, but that can be put aside in our
listening to the readings in the liturgy. Both this section and Psalm 34
are excellent for prayer, but we turn to the beginning of the Sermon on the
Mount today and this will be a lightening bolt that illumines our journey
through the continuing reading from the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7
in Matthew.

This beginning of Jesus' proclamation about the kingdom is givne in an
exhortatory and confirming way. We have a blue print for leading a happy
and holy life in assimilating the beatitudes into our daily life and our
modus operandi (the way we go about doing things).

The word beatitude comes from the Greek word "Makarios" which we recognize
as a title for Orthodox bishops and rightly so since they are to lead their
people in the ways of Jesus. The New Testament dictionary offers the
following words to translate it into English: blessed, fortunate, happy
(sometimes with a nuance of being "lucky"). When applied to God (Theos
makarios) as in I Timothy 1:11 and 6:15 it means the praise given to God
who is most worthy of all praise.

Jesus takes a seated position on the Mount for that is the way the rabbi or
teacher assumes a role of authentic and authoritative teaching and
instruction. The disciples and the people are then listening to someone
who knows what he is talking about, and who could do this better than
Jesus? His message is for all of us not only for monastic celibates or
religious women in communities of faith. Jesus is not ascetical or rigid
in this blueprint for a holy life. We all can take them on with confidence
that Jesus and the Holy Spirit will enable us to put them into practice.
Jesus is positive in giving them to us and opens up many roads for us that
can bring us calmness, serenity, patience, happiness, and holiness. We
therefore should listen and absorb them as good disciples (learners) of
what Jesus hands on to us as our ordinary rule of life in a busy busy world
of distractions, noise, and turbulence.

If you look in your dictionary you will see that the word beatitude is
defined as "supreme blessedness; exalted happiness." We also use the term
"Beati" for those declared blessed and are now enjoying the Beatific Vision
in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity. For example, like Mother Teresa
of Calcutta, and Blessed William Joseph Chaminade of the Marianist
religious and lay families. Chaminade would have us see that Mary, the
Mother of Jesus lives out all of the beatitudes and that she is rightly
entitled the "Blessed Mother." Elizabeth, another saint, declared to her,
" Blessed are you who believed what the Lord told you." Elizabeth was led
by the Holy Spirit to say this.,

One Marianist preacher startled his class by telling them this, " If you
practice one of the nine beatitudes the other go up with it like a
thermometer or barometer." This is encouraging and probably true. Maybe we
can look at the nine and take on one of them today. Amen.