Mosaic in the church of Sant'Apollinare, Ravenna
Another text from my favourite hermit, Sr Emmanuelle Billoteau, this time a meditation on the Beatitudes --
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
THE CHARTER OF THE KINGDOM
The Beatitudes point
us to a favoured road to the kingdom of God. The road of those who let
themselves be inhabited and profoundly worked upon by the Holy Spirit, for that
is where the wellspring of all joy is found. A paradoxical joy of which no one
can rob us (cf. Jn 16:22).
Preparation
“O God, thou art my
God: early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee.” (Ps. 63:1-2)
Observation
The evangelist gives the proclamation of the Beatitudes a
solemn introduction, by a redundancy that attracts the reader’s attention: “And
he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying . . .”. Everyone familiar with the
Bible will quickly see the link with the gift of the Torah on Mount Sinai. And
that only emphasises the differences all the more, for we are now at another
stage of the history of salvation. God no longer speaks from on high and in
fire, but face to face; no longer to one man, Moses, charged with transmitting
His message, but to the multitude. And what does Jesus say? That the road to
the Kingdom goes via places one does not automatically expect it to cross: inner
poverty, gentleness, tears . . . In short, it goes via the Cross, i.e. via a
death of self-sufficiency, of the dream of omnipotence, and via a consent to
human vulnerability. The first beatitude, that of the poverty of spirit, is,
clearly, the key that opens all the others, because it allows us to receive the
gift of God.
Meditation
Perhaps we may reread the Gospel in its entirety to see how
Jesus lived these beatitudes: in receiving everything from the Father, in
forgiving his persecutors, etc. That way we will find that the Beatitudes offer
us a way of conforming ourselves to Christ, he who “became Man that man might
become God” (St Irenæus). For we do need to become like him in order to be
resurrected with him (cf Ph. 3). So it is up to each of us to incarnate these
words in our own life, including the necessary looking toward Jesus, listening
to the Spirit, being personally imaginative. The unquestioning openness of
Zacchæus, the tears of Mary of Magdala, may also inspire our practice. By
whatever opening, let us allow the Beatitudes to enter our life, to evangelise
our concept of happiness and to stimulate our pilgrimage toward God.
Prayer
“Praise the Lord, O
my soul: and all that is within me, praise His holy Name!” (Ps. 103:1)
