JESUS CHRIST, THE BEATITUDE OF GOD
FAUSTO GOMEZ OP
Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). Following Christ is “the essential, and primordial foundation of morality.” Beside listening to his teachings and accepting his commandments, following Christ involves, radically, “holding fast to the very person of Jesus, partaking of his life and his destiny, sharing in his free and loving obedience to the will of the Father” (John Paul II, VS 19).
When we say “The Gospel of Jesus Christ,” we mean that He is the Gospel, that He is the Good News of God. Similarly, when we say the Beatitudes of Christ, we mean Christ is the Beatitude of God. The Beatitudes are “the identity card” of Christians, and portray the Master for all. Jesus lived the Beatitudes with unconditional love for humankind (Pope Francis, EG 63, 18). Thus, the very presence of Christ is the beatitude: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see (Lk 10:23), and Blessed are those who listen to the word of God and obey it (Lk 11:28).
The Beatitudes are of Christ, not only because He preached them, but because He lived them to perfection. Indeed, Christ during his whole life and specially in his passion is the only one who has lived integrally each of the Beatitudes. All are fulfilled in the cross (Jacques Philippe, Meditations on the Beatitudes). The Beatitudes are the face of Jesus and of the Father: Who has seen me has seen the Father (Jn 14:9). With the Holy Spirit, who helps us understand the Beatitudes and to practice them in our life. It is interesting to note that St. Augustine and St. Thomas relate the Beatitudes to the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
From Bethlehem to Calvary, from the poverty of the crib to death on the cross, the Beatitudes compose the biography of Jesus (Cabodevilla). The Beatitudes are “a sort of self-portrait of Christ and for this very reason are invitations to discipleship and to communion of life with Christ” (John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, 16).
Our task: “To follow the steps of Christ” (1 Pet 2:21) and to have the same feelings as him (Phil 2:5). The Beatitudes are summed up in one commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). Therefore, Blessed are those who imitate Jesus. In truth, Jesus promised his disciples three things: that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy and in constant trouble: (F. R. Maltby; in W. Barclay, In Luke 6:20-26).
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Jesus was poor. Ontologically poor: he became man (2 Cor 8:9; Phil 2:6-7). He was born in a crib (Lk 2:7), he was buried in a borrowed tomb (Mt 27:60), he did not have through life where to recline his head (Mt 8:20). He brought the Good News to the poor, He trusted absolutely in God the Father.
Blessed are the meek. Christ was meek: He was perfectly patient with his disciples, with his enemies. "Insulted, he did not return insult" (1 Pet 2:23). To us He said: "Learn from me, that I am meek" (Mt 11: 29).
Blessed are the sorrowful. Jesus cried - his prophetic mourning for Jerusalem, for the sinner (cf. Lk 19:4); his weeping upon learning that his friend Lazarus had died (Jn 11:35). We are repentant of our sins – for the evil we do, and the good we can do and do not.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice. Jesus was hungry of justice and bread. He is the justice of God (Rom 3:21). He fed others miraculously (Mt 14:14-21), but did not make a miracle to satisfy his own hunger (Mt 4:2-4).
Blessed are the merciful. Jesus was merciful and compassionate. He forgave all sins (Lk 23:34); He had compassion for the crowd (Mt 9:36; 14:14). “Be compassionate, He told us, as your Father is compassionate.”
Blessed are the pure of heart. Not only of the body (chastity) but of the heart, of life. Blood and water flowed out from his side, when crucified on the cross (Jn 19:34). The mystics tell us beautiful and sublime things, when commenting on the wounded side of the Lord: this wound is the threshold of the temple, the refuge of the dove, the window of eternity.
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jesus was peaceful and a peacemaker. Peace was his gift, right after being born (Lk 2:14), and before his death (Jn 14:27), and the first gift after his resurrection (Jn 20:19). Preacher of peace, He is our peace (Eph 2:14), “peace be with you” is the same as saying the Lord be with you” (Cabodevilla).
Blessed are those who are persecuted... Christ announced persecution and was persecuted. If you find that the world hates you, know it has hated me before you (John 15:18). The disciples will be like lambs for the wolves of the world (cf. Lk 10:3).
The Beatitudes continue to be essential and relevant: they echo the human problems of all times. “They are like the synthesis of human life, with all its difficulties, placed under the light of the Word of Christ, who came to enlighten us” (Ramón García de Haro).
Words to reflect upon. From Jose Maria Cabodevilla in his excellent book The Forms of Happiness are Eight: “What Christ does is not good because it is according to a high morality, but simply because He does it: He who is the absolute good and the source of all morality.” Jesus is the Beatitude of God, and life with him is the Beatitude in whom the eight Beatitudes find complete fulfillment - the eight Beatitudes or forms of love. (CI. Jose Maria Cabodevilla, Las formas de felicidad son ocho)
We pray to the good Lord to help us realize the radical significance of the Beatitudes in the life of every Christian. They are eight forms of happiness, of a limited but true happiness that begins in this life and will be perfect in the life to come - in Gd’s Kingdom. Jesus carried out the eight Beatitudes perfectly: He is the Beatitude of God, our radical Beatitude. As his disciples, we try hard to imitate and follow him; to trust in him always. We will never regret it!
Faith, hope and love pray!
