December 5, 2005 

"The Beatitudes"

The Beatitudes are very high acts of infused virtue.  They have all the aspects of love.  There are tremendous virtues in the Beatitudes.  I will just run through a couple here very quickly for you.  You can find this in Matthew 5:3-12.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  The tremendous virtue here is poverty, that spirit of detachment.  There is something in us like an octopus.  We can let go of this but we hang onto that, and then we let go of something else and grab something else until, through this virtue ("Blessed are the poor in spirit") we begin to see that the Kingdom is promised to us if we open both hands to receive it.  When we can leave and be detached, the attachment to God will be right there. 

Love is poor, and love is rich.  We know how to be poor.  We know how to be rich.  It doesn't make any difference as long as we're totally detached because Jesus Christ crucified was both.  He is poor and He totally has it all.  He is everything.       To find love, we must strip ourselves of everything and seek the treasures of the divine nakedness of Jesus.  That is where we will find our treasure.  That is where we will find the kingdom of heaven itself.

 "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the land."  The tremendous virtue here for us to live out in this Beatitude is humility.  The first stage of this intimate transformation process is meekness.  Jesus said, "Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart."  Meekness has two aspects: it perfects us and it makes our relations with others peaceful.  It is much easier to interact with a meek person than someone who is defiant or proud or attacking.  In this meekness, we begin to let down our guard and we can relate with others.  Now they can relate with us.  Jesus is saying, "Learn this from Me; learn it right from My heart.  You will find rest for your souls."  We will find rest, contemplative rest, and peace.  This meekness makes us sweet in our relations with the Father and in contact with our neighbor.  It gives us a peace with ourselves as well.  We don't have to constantly fight back or defend.  The virtue to let go is a beautiful grace.  When the soul possesses God, the saints tell us, it possesses itself in holy sweetness and it maintains unchanging peace within the kingdom. 

"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."  When the soul has reached this place of detachment from the first part of the beatitude and is at peace, from the second part of the beatitude it sees things in a new light.  This beautiful Scripture from Paul will have a much deeper meaning. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions."  We begin to experience a comfort from the God of mercies "who comforts us in all our afflictions.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ does our comfort abound."  The virtue here is purity.  We are running to God for the comfort that we need.  At this stage, God becomes the soul's only consolation.  There are tears here. These tears can come forth as joy.  Tears are a tremendous gift of God.

"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice," (for this holiness, for everything to be set right) Jesus said, "They shall be satisfied."  It is a total self-forgetfulness now.  Our Lady is a perfect example of a soul filled with justice.  In her Magnificat, she sings to Him, the One who is holy.  "Holy, holy, holy is His name."  She is filled now and satisfied with His holiness.  "He has filled the hungry with good things."

"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."  After the work of justice has been completed in the soul, there remains the work of mercy.  Mercy comes right from the heart of God.  The soul has need to really become one with the heart of God.  The soul does not know how to extend mercy any other way.  Mercy is pure gift.  It is beyond what is right..  It has strictly to do with love.  So we can be guilty, but God's mercy is greater.  God wants us to be merciful as He is merciful, no matter where a person is, no matter what the condition is.  Love is still owed to that person as it has been given to us.  We still are called to alleviate the miseries of others, and we can do that simply by watching God and picking up His beautiful heartbeat of mercy.

"Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  This leads us to Calvary love.  Nothing is greater in the entire universe than Jesus Christ, and nothing is greater than Jesus Christ in His sacrifice.  This is the fullness of God's love being poured out for justice's sake.  This is someone innocent on the Cross.  There will be times when we will have been purified.  We can go through the Nights.  We can be in the Unitive Way but we never come off the cross.  We go back on the Cross over and over now for others.  This is God's justice, His mercy, working through us.  Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13).  No one has greater love.  It is the holiest work of Jesus.  This is the work that He was sent to do.  This is what He did before He finally said, "It is finished." 

Excerpt from Mother Nadine's, "New Jerusalem-New Name," Omaha, NE 2004.