Sermon Tone Analysis

Blessed/Happy

Get your notebooks out, because the theme for today is: Obedience to God’s law is now associated with obedience to Christ Himself.

How do we come to know Jesus then?

How do we come to know what he expects from us?

As we have been hearing in The Mass series, we hear Jesus speak to us when a lector proclaims a reading.

Not tonight, but in other Gospel passages St. Matthew tells us that Jesus explains things to the crowd in parables, but to His disciples He explained His meaning clearly.

Well, the Beatitudes are clearly spoken, but they require a lot of explanation to really understand what Jesus is talking about.

For example, right off the bat, “Blessed (sometimes translated as Happy),” not in the sense of an emotional state but in terms of being in a fortunate situation.

Poor in Spirit means, “It refers to people who take their powerlessness to heart, who recognize that God is the only one who can help them, and who trust that God will act on their behalf.”

He has given to us the Church, the Body of Christ, with the Magisterium, or Teaching Authority.

This means that since the time St.

Peter was elevated to be the first pope the Church has been given the grace and responsibility to be the authentic interpreter of everything that Jesus said and did, and of all things involving the faith.

We know the Church has this grace, because the Holy Spirit, whom is God as we know, IS the SOUL of the Church.

The Holy Spirit is what gives the Church its life energy.

It is what shapes us and moves us.

God is the one who is still explaining His Word to us.

5:3 The Greek word for happy (makarios) denotes blessedness or happiness not in the sense of an emotional state but in terms of being in a fortunate situation

In the Jewish tradition, beatitudes either commended those who take a certain path of life or promised future consolation to those in affliction (see Biblical Background sidebar).

The Gospel of Matthew (The Kingdom’s Blessings (5:1–16))

Jesus’ beatitudes represent a reversal of values, turning the world’s standards for happiness upside down.

Many of the people whom the world would consider to be among the most miserable—the poor, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted—Jesus proclaims to be in an advantageous situation, for God looks now with favor on them and assures them of consolation in the future.

Jesus thus challenges his followers to see life from God’s viewpoint, not the world’s.

When his followers live by God’s standards, they are truly in a fortunate state in life, no matter what their circumstances may be, for they bring a glimmer of the joy and hope of the heavenly kingdom into the afflictions of the present world.

Ultimately the beatitudes are nothing less than a portrait of Christ’s own life.

Matthew depicts Jesus as meek (11:29; 12:15–21; 21:5), merciful (9:27–31; 15:22; 17:14–18; 18:33; 20:29–34), and persecuted (27:27–31, 39–44).

As an indirect portrait of Jesus, the beatitudes “display the mystery of Christ himself, and they call us into communion with him.”

The POOR IN SPIRIT

The Gospel of Matthew (The Kingdom’s Blessings (5:1–16))

describe the oppressed people of God who were in particular need of God’s help (Ps 37:14–17; Isa 10:2; 26:6; 61:1–2).

Jesus’ reference to the poor in spirit puts the emphasis not on material poverty but on one’s inner attitude.

It refers to people who take their powerlessness to heart, who recognize that God is the only one who can help them, and who trust that God will act on their behalf.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

5:4 How are those who mourn to be considered happy?

In this beatitude, Jesus does not commend mourning as such but praises those who grieve over wickedness, whether it be afflicting others or causing them suffering directly (Tob 13:14; Isa 61:2; Ezek 9:4).

From a worldly standpoint, these mourners appear to be quite unhappy.

But Jesus says they are truly in a good situation because, although they may not be able to change the circumstances around them, they can resist evil internally by mourning it.

Moreover, they can have confidence that God will vindicate the faithful and that they will be comforted.

This comfort belongs also to those who repent and mourn for their own sins (Ps 51) and to those who, like Daniel and Ezra (Dan 9:1–19; Ezra 9:5–15), mourn for the sins of God’s people

THE MEEK

inherit the land.

In Ps 37, this is a reference to the promised land.

Jesus uses the image not geographically but spiritually as referring to the kingdom

CHILD OF GOD

Since the peacemakers share in the Father’s mission of reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19), they shall be called children of God—a title that points to the intimate relationship Christ’s disciples will have with God, who, Jesus repeatedly tells them, is “your heavenly Father” (5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, passim).