Monday 9^th June – Monday of week 10 of the year

Reflection: Matthew 5:1-12

BEATITUDES: THE DIVINE WAY TO HAPPINESS

Everyone wants to be happy. All men agree on this. The difficulty is to decide what happiness really is. What may be happiness for the body is not necessarily happiness for the mind. What may give immediate pleasure does not necessarily give peace of soul, and what is true for time may be false for eternity. The Beatitudes represent the Divine way to be happy, though they completely contradict the gospel of the contemporary world.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: As the word “poor” implies a “destitute” in the economic realm. From this it follows that poverty of spirit is a profound realization in a person of his complete emptiness and spiritual destitution in the face of the richness of God. Only those who are conscious of their own inner nudity are willing to take the place of beggars to receive true riches from the hands of Divine charity. Thus, “the poor have the Gospel preached to them” means that they hear it not with their own ears but with their souls.

Meekness is disciplined strength, not cowardly weakness. The meek man does not retaliate injuries, but rather forgives them, as Christ did on the cross. The meek man is the one who knows well what it is to have a giant’s strength, but he also knows that it is wrong to use it as a giant. This requires great self-control. Thus, the meek man in wanting nothing, he possess all things.

The Beatitudes may seem paradoxical to our human reasoning, but without them we cannot find eternal happiness.

Prayer: Lord help me to understand the divine wisdom contained in your teachings. Amen

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 281 Why do we yearn for happiness?

God has placed in our hearts such an infinite desire for happiness that nothing can satisfy it but God himself. All earthly fulfillment gives us only a foretaste of eternal happiness. Above and beyond that, we should be drawn to God.

 HIDE A TREASURE: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8 RSV-CE

Readings for today: 1 Kings 17:1-6, Psalm 121:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12