Gospel of Matthew Series: Purpose of the Beatitudes

Gospel of Matthew Series:

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WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BEATITUDES? 
 

 The Beatitudes comes from Chapter 5 verse 3-12.  The Beatitudes is an important part of the Sermon on the Mount.   It serves to:

·                     Take up and fulfill God's promises from Abraham on by showing them
           the way to the Kingdom of heaven. They respond to the desire for
           happiness that God has placed in the human heart.

·                     Teach us the final end to which God calls us: the Kingdom, the vision of
           God, participation in the divine nature, eternal life, filiation, rest in God.

·                     Confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods; they purify
          our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things.

·                     Remind us of the supernatural. The beatitude of eternal life is a
          gratuitous gift of God.  It is supernatural, as is the grace that leads us
          there.

·         Gives clarity as to how to live as a disciple according to God’s law.  The
           beatitude of heaven sets the standards for discernment in the use of
           earthly goods in keeping with the law of God.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of the Beatitudes:

‘Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes.  The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint." Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul... that enters... where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." 

 

It continues:

 

‘Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us... put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation." Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire". (Paragraph 1820)

 

‘The Law of the Gospel "fulfils," refines, surpasses and leads the Old Law to its perfection.  In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfils the divine promises by elevating and orienting them toward the "kingdom of heaven." It is addressed to those open to accepting this new hope with faith -- the poor, the humble, the afflicted, the pure of heart, those persecuted on account of Christ -- and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom.’ (Paragraph 1967).   

 

Now that we have read what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says of the Beatitudes, it is time for us to consider what do we say about it and devise our action plan for this week.