Gospel Commentary: Blessed Are You

By Fr. John De Celles
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 1/27/05)

"Beautiful" seems to be the best word to describe today’s text — the "beatitudes" from St. Matthew’s Gospel. In fact, the words "beautiful" and "beatitude" come from the Latin word "beati" which means "blessed," as in "blessed are they." But some people like to say that the word "beatitude" is related to the word "attitude," that the be-atitudes describe the way our attitudes should be. In a sense, both explanations work. The beatitudes teach us an attitude that makes us "beautiful" in the eyes of God.

Because the Eight Beatitudes are so beautiful and positive, some people tend to contrast them with the more negatively worded "Ten Commandments." But rather than stand in contrast with the Commandments, the beatitudes actually illuminate them. And instead of making the Christian life simpler and easier, in some ways they make it even more difficult and demanding.

The beatitudes are the first part of Jesus’ famous "Sermon on the Mount." He draws his audience in with these beautiful promises but then immediately (just five verses later) places them in their proper context: "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them."

The beatitudes "fulfill" the Commandments, revealing their more profound meaning. With them Jesus tells us that the law of God isn’t just about your outward actions—it has to do with your whole heart and mind: with your attitude. In Jesus’ time, many of His fellow Jews were being very legalistic about the law of Moses, having the attitude that if we just avoid doing a few narrowly defined things we can avoid condemnation. To remedy this Jesus gives them the beatitudes, not as something that "you shall not" do, but rather as something you shall do; not as something very narrowly defined, but a broad attitude.

So we hear: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "The poor" here aren’t simply the physically poor — a man can be dirt poor and still be the most terrible person alive. "The poor in spirit" are those who allow no possession or person to be more important to them than their love for God. They are the ones who, for example, hear the Commandment: "I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me," and think not simply, "I better not go to a pagan temple," but resolve to radically change their whole attitude toward all things and persons.

"Blessed are the merciful ... [and] the peacemakers" — "You shall not kill." "Blessed are the clean of heart" — "You shall not commit adultery." You can go through each of the beatitudes and, with the heart and mind of Christ, hear the echo of the Commandments.

But without going through all the combinations here, consider the last and greatest of the beatitudes: "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you … because of me." In this beatitude Jesus summarizes the depth of the demands of all the beatitudes, in the same way he summarizes all Ten Commandments with the "greatest commandment": "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." Those who are blessed are those who give themselves completely in love to God, who hear the call to love as not merely a request for warm feelings, but of committed and sacrificial love.

The promise of becoming truly beautiful in the eyes of the Lord involves much more than merely avoiding technical violations of the Commandments. It demands a whole-hearted attitude that permeates everything we do and think. And in this attitude of complete love we will find the beauty of the promise "blessed are you."

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