I. I have begun this second reflection on the Beatitudes by returning to what I believe to be one of the most important statements from Henri Nouwen on the spiritual life. You’ve seen a portion of it earlier in these postings, but I’ve included the whole passage here. Of special importance is the last sentence. I bring this passage from Nouwen into these reflections on the Beatitudes because the Beatitudes are what some have called “a condensed summary of the teachings of Jesus” (cf. The Ladder of the Beatitudes, by Jim Forest. Orbis Books, 1999) and the very foundation of our Christian life. If you had a chance to read the whole “Sermon on the Mount” (Chapters 5-7) of Matthew, you will have seen that the “Sermon” is an illumination of the Beatitudes, a “discourse” on the primary elements of a moral/ethical and religious life, and a catechism on the demands of following Jesus. The passage from Nouwen leads us to consider how we can begin to shape a Christian life in the here and now if we ground that life in the Beatitudes. 

II. The “Sermon on the Mount” helps us recognize that the Beatitudes are as much about Jesus and how he lived, as they are about what Jesus teaches, so we can understand how the dimensions of individual spiritual lives--the “personal” dimension—can help create and maintain a “public” witness to all the “blessed” Jesus identifies in the texts.  In this time of the great pandemic, the Beatitudes can lead us to seek a “spirituality in a time of reckoning” (Commonweal Associates Newsletter, Fall 2021).

III. So let’s consider this idea of building the Beatitudes into our spiritual life. Matthew’s Gospel contains nine Beatitudes and in most commentaries on the Beatitudes, it is the first eight that demand our attention. Usually, the eight beatitudes are divided into two groups: Beatitudes 1-4 are identified as for those in need and those who can be assured of deliverance in responding to Jesus’ words.  Beatitudes 5-8 are identified as for the faithful, those who will be rewarded for their fidelity. It is important to remember that Jesus delivered his “Sermon on the Mount,” to a congregation composed of both his disciples/faithful and those who would seek to become his followers. Theologian Greg Carey has commented that the first four beatitudes “might function as an invitation for hearers to identify with Jesus and his way, and the last four as the epitome of what it means to follow his path” (The Christian Century, November 22, 2016).

IV. In Beatitudes 1-4, four different groups in need, followers and non-followers, are identified and blessed. In Beatitude one it is the “poor in spirit;” in Beatitude two, it is “those who mourn;” in Beatitude three, it is “the meek;” and in Beatitude four, it is “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” These first four Beatitudes reflect who Jesus is and who Jesus is calling us to be. It is Jesus who blesses the poor in spirit.  It is Jesus who listens to and comforts those who mourn and grieve, and it is Jesus who himself mourns and suffers as we suffer. It is Jesus who is “meek and lowly of heart” (Matthew 11: 29), and it is Jesus who lived in humility while he was humiliated. And it is Jesus who is with us in our own suffering and humiliation. Finally, it is Jesus who, who by his life and witness, has shown us who hunger and thirst for righteousness, a way to that righteousness. It is Jesus who gave his life for our sins, and it is Jesus who practiced justice, peace, godliness, forgiveness and taking care of one another and the earth. It is perhaps through the fourth Beatitude more than any other, that we see Jesus as the model for leading the life of a good human being. Here, too, we begin to see the signs of what it might mean to be part of a moral community and to be governed justly, fairly, and honestly. It is the fourth Beatitude, one that speaks to us “who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” which brings us into the world and the everyday life of the here and now.

V. As we journey toward Advent and enter the new Church year, studying the Beatitudes as we go, we will begin to think much more about humility, mercy, compassion, integrity, righteousness, peacemaking, courage and forgiveness. It is the Beatitudes that can lead us to better understand Nouwen’s invitation to a richer spiritual life in the “midst of the pains and joys of the here and now,” a life that will lead us away from continuing “to stagnate in a generalized melancholy.” The here and now of these days, weeks, and months when we want to believe that Covid-19 has finally run its course, continue to challenge us, so much so that it is very hard not to fall into some form of melancholia. With Jesus as our model and remembering that we will be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, reading and experiencing the Beatitudes and taking them seriously, perhaps for the first time, can be a powerful antidote to the world we encounter every day.

— Father Peter