He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Mt 5:1-12a
BIBLICAL
He went up the mountain.
Remember that St. Matthew wrote his gospel for his fellow Jews. Therefore, it was important for him to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, and this in two ways. First, that Jesus fulfils the prophecies of the OT. And second, that in Jesus many OT figures are fulfilled. In this particular case, Moses is presented as a figure of Jesus. That is why the detail of the Jesus going up the mountain is important because it recalls Moses going up Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Just as the Ten Commandments guided Israel, so also the Eight Beatitudes will now guide the Christian people.
Blessed are….
In Latin “blessed” is translated as “beatus”. Hence, the word “beatitude”. This discourse of Jesus has been traditionally called the Eight Beatitudes, but there are actually nine. The ninth begins with the words “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you….”
You will find another version of the Eight Beatitudes in the gospel of Luke.
In Greek “blessed” is translated as “macarios”. Hence, we have the name “Macario”.
And after he had sat down.
Sitting down is the traditional posture when a teacher teaches his disciples. Hence, there are times when the Pope is seated when he delivers a sermon.
It is interesting to note that the concept of “professorial chairs” may have come from this idea of sitting down as the posture for teaching.
Poor in spirit
It is interesting to note that while Matthew has “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Luke has “Blessed are the poor.” Perhaps Matthew wants to stress the fact that being economically poor does not make one automatically blessed. Something more is needed. And this “something more” extends the beatitude to all socio-economic classes.
In the OT the poor in spirit are the “anawim”. They are those who are without ma-terial possessions and so have only God to rely on. Obviously those who are well-off have greater difficulty in acquiring poverty in spirit than those who have nothing.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Who will comfort them? God.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
In the OT, land would mean the Promised Land. But in the NT it would mean the kingdom of God.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Righteousness here means conformity to God’s will.
Blessed are the clean of heart.
Clean of heart has sometimes been translated as “single-hearted”, that is, undi-vided heart, that is, faithful.
HAPPINESS
Today’s gospel speaks of happiness. “Blessed are they” can be translated as “Happy are they”.
The United States' Declaration of Independence asserts that all individuals have an unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I think all will agree with this declaration. But it is how we define happiness and how we try to be happy where disagreement occurs. So let’s listen to what some authors say and maybe we can learn something from them.
1. Someone said that happiness is a state of the mind. In other words, we can be happy no matter what happens, provided we have a positive attitude towards life. Listen to this story.
A well-dressed 92-year old lady was being shown to her room in the nursing home. She is legally blind. And she had to move there because her husband of 70 years had died recently. While waiting for the elevator, the staff member started to describe her room. The old lady responded with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old having been given a new pair of shoes: “I love it." The staff responded: "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room. Just wait." And the old lady replied: "That doesn't have anything to do with it. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away just for this time in my life.”
Happiness is a state of the mind.
2. You can’t buy happiness. In other words, money does not guarantee happiness. Certainly having enough money helps. But the problem is, we never think that we have enough of it. But would you believe it? Even in extreme poverty, we can find happy people.
A writer recounts this story. “My wife recently met a 43-year-old Filipino named Nestor Castillo, and they started chatting about a proposed government program in the Philippines to give poor people food stamps. Castillo was against it: he didn't believe the politicians and the bureaucrats would be able to pull it off honestly. And yet Casti-llo could use those stamps. Four years ago, he lost his job as a janitor at the Quezon City Hall. He and his family are now scavengers, living out of a wooden pushcart. This is Castillo's idea of happiness: "Once I found nearly half a fried chicken wrapped in plastic," he told me. "I knew it was still edible because it was still cold, just came from the refrigerator. We had a feast that day."
Money helps. But money alone will not make you happy. You need something more. What could be that something more?
The same author has this to say: “For Filipinos, happiness isn't material—it's so-cial. We're happiest in a group: family, friends, immediate community, even strangers. I've seen it happen in many airports among perfect strangers: as soon as Philippine travellers drift in, they gravitate toward one another and soon form a boisterous crowd, exchanging jokes and mobile-phone numbers.”
If we want to be happy, we need to be connected with family, friends, and nei-ghbors. We need to be with people with whom we feel a connection.
3. What good does happiness bring? Happy people look better than unhappy people. Happy people live longer than unhappy people. Happy people recover from sickness much faster than unhappy people. Happy people enjoy life. Unhappy people suffer through life. You feel good when you are with happy people.
And finally, St. Thomas Aquinas said that it would be very difficult for Satan to take possession of the heart of a happy person. We can put it in another way. Satan will find it easy to take possession of the heart of an unhappy person. It is for this reason that Don Bosco told his boys: “Here holiness consists in being cheerful.”
CONCLUSION
There is no doubt about it. God wants us to be happy. That is why he created heaven for us. But even in this world we can be happy. It doesn’t mean that we shall never experience unhappiness. It does mean that even though we live in an imperfect world, we can be more happy than unhappy. And how do we make that happen? The secret is this: A good person has a greater chance of being happy than a bad person. If you are more unhappy than happy, why don’t you look into your heart? You might find the answer there.
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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.
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