February 16, 2025.
“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.” (Luke 6, 20-23)
Christ surprised his contemporaries with the sermon known as that of the mountain, in which he proclaimed the beatitudes. This message is equally surprising today and, apparently, contradictory. How am I going to consider myself fortunate if I suffer hunger, if I cry, if I am persecuted? Logically, it is not the case of an invitation to masochism, as if happiness were tied to misfortune. What it is is a different way of looking at life and what values we hold as important. The beatitudes are understood from love, because they are manifestations of love.
It would be something like this: “Fortunate are you who have given alms so that others had something to eat and clothes to wear. God will compensate you in heaven and you will find an immense joy and peace on earth.” “Fortunate are you, who now are putting up with the sneering of those around you because you have moral principles and don’t want to give them up. The day will come when you will realize that you pick the right path, while you see how they have a hard time, victims of their own excesses, those who now laugh at you”. “Fortunate are you, if they criticize you for being my disciple and even if for this reason you loss some good business. Do not doubt that God will pay you with even more, both in heaven and on earth”. Definitively, what the Lord tells us is this: “Fortunate are you when you love, when you share, when you forgive, when you are true to your conscience. Fortunate are you because you have invested in joy and in happiness, both on earth and in heaven. And this joy no one can take form you.”
Intention: Analyze your own behavior in light of each one of the beatitudes. Do I give alms? Do I accompany the lonely or those who suffer? Do I stand up for Christ? Do I work for peace?