"Blest Are Those"
Human experience sees happiness in situations of joy, laughter, merriment and pleasant company. This is common in many cultures. But the call of today's is a call to discover true happiness in situations that initially are: poor in spirit, sorrowful, humbled, downhearted, hungry and thirsting for God, persecuted and insulted. To hope for true happiness in this gospel call is to believe in a faithful God-in-Jesus. This seed of hope implanted by prayer and works of mercy eventually blooms and re-blooms deep within every human soul perseveres in his faith in Christ. The happiness obtained in this context is more lasting and permanent - more than the happiness obtained from what is often superficial and temporary, and obtained through pleasures gained by external senses alone.
In the gospel, Jesus calls us to deeper happiness, the true and real happiness. This is a happiness rooted in following God's will: in humility, merciful acts, purity of intention, etc. All are called to live and seek this happiness, this "beatitude". Even when some sectors of society give more emphasis to fame, worldly success, money, and power, what is real often gets known and revealed. Temporal matters are not essentially evil, but if made more important than the values of the gospel, man can easily lose sight of God and the happiness he seeks for himself and others. If man were to use the temporal order without a Christian vision or an ecumenically universal hope, then it is no wonder why the evils that befall us cause despair, disillusionment, and destructive behavior. So Jesus offers the solution of the Beatitudes.
Perhaps the best source to learn more about this gospel and what the Beatitudes can give is found in the Catechism:
The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:
We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated. (quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, De moribus eccl.)
How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.(quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions)
God alone satisfies. (quote from St. Thomas Aquinas)
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