Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. It was hard for the rich young ruler who walked away sad because he had many possessions. But it is not impossible. It was not impossible for Zacchaeus, who was a wealthy man, and yet received Jesus into his home with joy. At that point he still had possessions yet he had already become poor in spirit. He had a new relationship with his wealth, ready to give it to the poor, and to repay debts of justice to those whom he formerly cheated. We too must be poor in spirit to receive the Kingdom. We must at least be poor enough that the things we do own don't distract us from the Kingdom and keep us trapped in a self-focused reality.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Those who love cannot help but mourn. There are many reasons to do so, not the least of which are the injustices of the world, and the sufferings we witness at all scales of life, even in the lives of those we know, even in ourselves. We mourn because of the poignant beauty of the love demonstrated by Jesus in his suffering and death, which somehow compasses and includes all suffering. And because of this we hope to experience the comfort of the resurrection when all things will finally be set to right for those that love God. We have enough reasons to mourn that we need not seek new ones. The goal is not to insist on being dour and depressed in this life. This beatitude is rather a call to see even in our sufferings the inherent promise of hope. Since the resurrection has in fact happened, and since we already partake in it by faith, we can begin to share even now in the receiving and giving of this promised comfort.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (see Second Corinthians 1:3-4).
It feels to us as though it is not the meek who will inherit the land. We feel that it instead the proud and the powerful who have already done so. To the degree that they haven't that they seem to be on the verge, leaving no room for meekness, and crushing the humble under their heel. But this is why we need to have a perspective of faith, lest we try to compete with the strong on their own terms of corruption. We are not meant to compete on those terms. When we become truly meek we become small enough and sufficiently under control that God can use us. It is as his soldiers, armed with humility, that we fight a battle that can be won. The short-term success of sinners should not dampen our hopes that it is to the meek that the final victory will belong.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
We are more often better described as those who are vaguely interested in righteousness, and this is not enough. Jesus calls us to long for righteousness as though our very lives depend on it, because indeed they do. But do not satisfy this hunger ourselves. It is the bread from heaven provided by Jesus himself that answers to this longing in our hearts. And the more we desire it the more will be the graces we receive.
The bread from heaven that Jesus provides contains within itself all sweetness. It is the seed for every beatitude each time we receive it. In it Jesus himself teaches us to become like him, and in receiving it we are in fact conformed to him. Therefore we needn't fear as though we were left to ourselves to produce the virtue and righteousness to which we are called. Given such heavenly help, we can be bold in our desire to be merciful so that there is nothing in us to obstruct God's own desire to show us mercy. He himself will help us to desire that our hearts be made clean, not merely empty, but transparent to the vision of God.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
If we desire mercy, purity, and righteousness, if we are not attached to riches and allow ourselves to feel the feelings of God in regard to the suffering of the world, we will become peacemakers inevitably, naturally, and powerfully.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
As we behold God in purity we will be more and more transformed ourselves and able share the blessings first shared with us, including his peace and his comfort. There may be limits to such participation for finite creatures such as ourselves. But the extent to which we might hope to be lights to the world is demonstrated by the saints, who have sought that limit, and found only more and more abundance on the part of God. This is a call for each of us as well. Sainthood is not only for the chosen few. It is rather the call for "a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation race, people, and tongue". It is to this fellowship that we too are called to belong.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
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