A Homily on the Beatitudes

Beloved, when our Lord Jesus Christ was preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing various diseases throughout all Galilee, the fame of his mighty works had spread into all Syria, and great crowds were flocking from every part of Judea to the heavenly Physician. For since human ignorance is slow to believe what it does not see and to hope for what it does not know, those who were to be instructed in the teaching of God needed to be roused by bodily benefits and visible miracles, so that they might have no doubt that his teaching brought health, once they had actually felt his kindly power. And so, that the Lord might use outward healings as an introduction to inward remedies, and after healing bodies might work cures in the soul, he separated himself from the crowd around him, went up into the seclusion of a nearby mountain, and called his apostles to him there, so that from the height of that mystic seat he might teach them the loftier doctrines. By the very nature of the place and of the act he showed that he was the one who had once honored Moses by speaking to him: then, indeed, with a more terrifying justice, but now with a holier mercy. This was so that what had been promised might be fulfilled, when the prophet Jeremiah says: “Look, the days are coming when I will complete a new covenant for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.” So he who had spoken to Moses spoke also to the apostles, and the swift hand of the Word wrote the secrets of the new covenant and laid them up in the disciples’ hearts. There were no thick clouds around him as of old, and the people were not frightened away from approaching the mountain by dreadful sounds and lightning. Instead his teaching reached the ears of those standing by, quietly and freely, so that the harshness of the law might give way before the gentleness of grace, and “the spirit of adoption” might drive away the terrors of slavery. [a]

The nature of Christ’s teaching, then, is shown by his own holy sayings, so that those who wish to reach eternal blessedness may understand the steps that climb to that high happiness. “Blessed,” he says, “are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It might perhaps be doubtful which poor he was speaking of if, in saying “Blessed are the poor,” he had added nothing to explain what sort of poor he meant. Then poverty by itself, which many suffer under hard and heavy necessity, would seem enough to win the kingdom of heaven. But when he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he shows that the kingdom of heaven is to be given to those who are commended by the humility of their spirits rather than by the smallness of their means. Yet there can be no doubt that this possession of humility is more easily gained by the poor than by the rich. For a yielding spirit is the companion of those in want, while loftiness of mind lives with riches. Still, even in many of the rich there is found that spirit which uses its abundance not to increase its pride but for works of kindness, and counts as its greatest gain what it spends to relieve the hardships of others. Every kind and rank of people may share in this virtue, because people may be equal in will though unequal in fortune, and it does not matter how different in earthly means they are who are found equal in spiritual possessions. Blessed, then, is the poverty that is not held captive by a love of temporal things and does not seek to be increased with the riches of the world, but is eager to gather heavenly possessions. [d]

After the Lord, the apostles were the first to give us an example of this high-souled humility. At the voice of the heavenly Master they left all that they had, holding nothing back, and by a ready change they were turned from catching fish to being fishers of men. Through the imitation of their faith they made many like themselves, when, among those first-born sons of the church, “the heart of all who believed was one, and their spirit one.” For they put away all their goods and possessions and made themselves rich with eternal goods through a most devoted poverty, and, following the apostles’ preaching, they rejoiced to have nothing of the world and to possess all things with Christ. That is why the blessed apostle Peter, when he was going up into the temple and the lame man asked him for alms, said: “Silver and gold is not mine, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk.” What is more sublime than this humility? What is richer than this poverty? He has no store of money, but he has gifts of nature. The man his mother had borne lame from the womb is made whole by Peter with a word, and the one who did not give Caesar’s image on a coin restored Christ’s image in the man. And the riches of this treasure helped not only the man whose power to walk was restored, but also five thousand men, who then believed at the apostle’s urging because of the wonder of this cure. And that poor man, who had nothing to give the one who asked him, bestowed so great a bounty of divine grace that, as he had set one man straight on his feet, so he healed these many thousands of believers in their hearts, and made them “leap like a deer” in Christ, whom he had found limping in Jewish unbelief. [e]

After setting out this most happy humility, the Lord added: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” This mourning, beloved, to which eternal comfort is promised, is not the same as the affliction of this world. Nor do the laments poured out in the sorrows of the whole human race make anyone blessed. The reason for holy groaning, the cause of blessed tears, is very different. Religious grief mourns sin, whether another’s or one’s own. It does not mourn for what God’s justice brings about, but laments over what human wickedness commits, where the one who does wrong is more to be pitied than the one who suffers it, because the unjust man’s wrongdoing plunges him into punishment, while the just man’s endurance leads him on to glory. [i]

Next the Lord says: “Blessed are the meek, for they will possess the earth as their inheritance.” To the meek and gentle, to the humble and modest, and to those who are ready to endure every injury, the earth is promised as their possession. And this is not to be counted a small or cheap inheritance, as if it were separate from our heavenly dwelling, since it is none other than these who are understood to enter the kingdom of heaven. The earth, then, that is promised to the meek and is to be given to the gentle as their possession, is the flesh of the saints. In reward for their humility it will be changed in a happy resurrection and clothed with the glory of immortality, no longer acting against the spirit in anything, but in complete unity and agreement with the will of the soul. For then the outer man will be the peaceful and unblemished possession of the inner man. Then the mind, absorbed in beholding God, will be hindered by no obstacles of human weakness, and it will no longer have to be said, “The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul, and its earthly house presses down the mind that thinks many things.” For the earth will not struggle against its tenant and will not attempt any rebellion against the rule of its governor. The meek will possess it in unending peace, and nothing will be taken from their rights, “when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality,” so that their danger may turn into reward, and what was a burden may become an honor. [j]

After this the Lord goes on to say: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” This hunger, this thirst, seeks nothing bodily, nothing earthly. It desires to be filled with the good food of righteousness, to be admitted to all the deepest mysteries, and to be filled with the Lord himself. Happy is the mind that craves this food and is eager for such drink, which it certainly would not seek if it had never tasted its sweetness. But hearing the prophet’s spirit saying to it, “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet,” it has received some portion of sweetness from on high and has blazed up into love of the purest pleasure. So, scorning all temporal things, it is seized with the utmost eagerness to eat and drink righteousness, and it grasps the truth of that first commandment which says, “You shall love the Lord your God out of all your heart, and out of all your mind, and out of all your strength,” since to love God is nothing else than to love righteousness. Finally, just as in that passage care for one’s neighbor is joined to the love of God, so here too the virtue of mercy is linked to the desire for righteousness, and it is said: [n]

“Blessed are the merciful, for God will have mercy on them.” Christian, recognize the worth of your wisdom, and understand to what rewards you are called and by what methods of discipline you must reach them. Mercy wants you to be merciful, and righteousness wants you to be righteous, so that the Creator may be seen in his creature, and the image of God may be reflected in the mirror of the human heart, traced out in the lines of imitation. The faith of those who do good is free from anxiety. You will have all your desires, and you will gain without end what you love. And since through your almsgiving all things are pure to you, you will also reach the blessedness that is promised as a consequence, where the Lord says: [r]

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Great is the happiness, beloved, of the one for whom so great a reward is prepared. What, then, is it to have a pure heart, but to strive after the virtues mentioned above? And how great is the blessedness of seeing God? What mind can conceive it, what tongue declare it? And yet this will come about when human nature is transformed, so that no longer “in a mirror” or “in a riddle,” but “face to face,” it sees the very Godhead “as he is,” which no one could see, and through the unspeakable joy of eternal contemplation obtains what “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.” This blessedness is rightly promised to purity of heart. For unclean sight will not be able to see the brightness of the true light, and what will be happiness to minds that are bright and clean will be punishment to those that are stained. So let the mists of earth’s vanities be shunned, and let your inward eyes be cleansed of all the filth of wickedness, so that your sight may be free to feast on this great showing of God. For we understand that what follows leads to the attaining of this. [t]

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.” This blessedness, beloved, does not belong to every kind of agreement and harmony, but to that of which the apostle speaks, “Have peace toward God,” and of which the prophet David speaks: “Much peace have those who love your law, and they have no cause of stumbling.” Even the closest ties of friendship and the most exact likeness of mind do not truly gain this peace if they do not agree with God’s will. Likeness in evil desires, alliances in crime, and partnerships in vice cannot merit this peace. The love of the world does not keep company with the love of God, and the one who will not separate himself from the children of this generation does not enter the fellowship of the sons of God. But those who are always with God in mind, “making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” never disagree with the eternal law, as they pray that prayer of faith, “Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” These are “the peacemakers.” These are thoroughly of one mind and fully in harmony, and they are to be called sons “of God and joint heirs with Christ.” For this will be the record of the love of God and the love of our neighbor: that we will suffer no calamities and fear no stumbling, but with all the strife of trial ended, we will rest in God’s most perfect peace, through our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. [v]