The Second Beatitude 

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”

Mournfulness is contrition of heart (tears) about our sins.

The reward: comfort, which is peace of conscience here on earth and after death. In the heavenly kingdom, St John saw before God’s throne them “which came out of great tribulation... and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 1:14-17).

Besides our sins we must mourn for the sinful state of the world and the persecution of the Church.  Our Lord wept over Jerusalem. 

Comfort is promised to the mourner in order to avoid despair, which is a great sin.  It is preceded by despondency when one does not wish to accept consolation from God and neighbour.  If not fought, despondency grows into murmuring against God and despair, which is the death of the soul.

The highest degree of mourning is joy-making weeping, i.e. weeping joined with compassion for all and joy at the mercy of God.

Many saints, monks and hermits had the gift of spiritual mourning; their eyes were always red from tears.

 

The Third Beatitude 

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”

Meekness is a gentle disposition of spirit, joined with carefulness not to irritate anyone and not to be irritated by anything.

Meekness can be acquired by:

1)  Not murmuring against God or men and

2)  Not seeking revenge for offences.

 

Reward: The inheritance of the earth -

1)  The meek Christians who conquered the heathens fulfilled these words.

2)  The meek Christians win the love of their neighbours and have good influence upon them

3)  After their death the meek receive the eternal beatitude.

 

The highest degree of meekness is absence of anger and love for enemies.  Our Lord was perfectly meek (Mt. 12:18-21).  Meekness obliges us to make peace with our offenders (Matt. 5:23-24).  It is quite possible to love one’s enemies.  First of all a true Christian can have no enemies but only haters, i.e. people who hate him; and he must love these haters (Matt 5:44).  Anger is a sin; but it is allowable only against our fall, sins, passions and bad thoughts, and against the devil.

 

The Fourth Beatitude 

“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness:

for they shall be filled”

The virtue prescribed is: to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  It means:

1)  To have a zeal for the salvation of one’s soul.

2)  To desire the establishment on earth of Divine justice instead of injustice which persecutes piety.

In the Old Testament, Job, David, Solomon and the prophets hungered for justice and they received a good promise from God that a certain Peacemaker would come and establish righteousness.  They did not only desire that justice should come on earth but also to become righteous themselves (Psalms).

In the New Testament, the Church expresses the hunger of the soul for righteousness in many prayers, e.g. Our Father (Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth) or in the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian “O Lord and Master of my life.”

Some people now fight injustice on the earth, but only those of them are worthy of praise, who fight out of love for righteousness and not out of hatred and ambition.  The highest degree of hunger for righteousness is to consecrate oneself to preaching Christianity and justice or to be a monk, i.e. obtain personal righteousness.  There are many examples in the Gospel of such self-renunciation: St. John the Baptist, the Apostles.  Their reward will be fulfilled in everlasting life.

 

The Fifth Beatitude. 

“Blessed are the merciful:  for they shall obtain mercy”

St. John Chrysostom says: “There are different ways of being merciful and this commandment is broad”.

The corporal (for the body) works of mercy:

1)  To feed the hungry

2)  To give drink to the thirsty

3)  To clothe the naked

4)  To visit those in prison

5)  To visit the sick

6)  To help in Christian preparation for death

7)  To receive into one’s house wanderers and give them rest.

8)  To bury those who die in poverty.

 

The spiritual works of mercy (for the soul)

1)  To convert the sinner from the error of his way (Jas 5:20)

2)  To teach the ignorant truth and good

3)  To give good advice in difficulty

4)  To pray to God for our neighbours

5)  To comfort the sorrowful

6)  Not to render evil for evil done

7)  To forgive offences from the heart (Mt. 18:35).

 

It is not contrary to the Beatitude, when justice punishes a culprit, or it is done out of duty and with good intention, to correct him or to preserve the innocent from his crimes

The exterior deed of mercy is good, but God praises the merciful not for the deeds but for their disposition of love and generosity, which impels them to such deeds. (e.g. the poor widow who gave for the Temple  her only two mites).  It is impossible to do deeds of spiritual mercy without having a heart full of love and compassion because words of consolation will not have a good influence (I Cor. chapter 13).

The reward is that the merciful will be forgiven at the Divine judgment.  It is important because everyone needs the Divine mercy.  “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy  (Jas 2:13), and St Peter says: “Love covereth a multitude of sins” (I Ptr 4:3).  The virtue of mercy will be rewarded at the Divine judgment (Mt. 25:41-46).

Those who think that it is better to spend money for their own pleasure and not help the poor with it, let them remember the parable about the sick man to whom God said: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required, and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?” (Lk. 12:20).

 

The Sixth Beatitude

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God”

To attain purity of heart we must watch over ourselves and reject from our heart every bad desire and thought.  We must “walk before God,” i.e. to have in our heart the remembrance of God and faith and love to Jesus Christ.  For purity in heart we must have “fear of God,” i.e. fear not to sin before God.

The Reward:  is seeing God.  As a pure eye is capable to see light, so a pure heart is able to contemplate God.  In fullness it concerns the future life, but partially now.  The virtue connected with purity of heart is “chastity.”  The vices gluttony and drunkenness are hostile to chastity.  The reward for chastity is in Revelation - The souls of those people will have constant communion with the Lamb (14:1-4).