The Eight Beatitudes:the face of Christ
The Beatitudes: BEATITUDO –
BLESSINGS (Latin) MAKAIROS -
contentment (Greek)
•The Charter of the Kingdom. •The vocation
of every Christian. •The qualities, actions,
attitudes, disposition of Christ & therefore
his disciples. •A unique type of happiness.
•God calls us into His own beatitude.
• The essentials of Christian Moral Living
are summarized in the “Kingdom of God.” At
the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ
laid down the charter or “marks” of the
Kingdom – a new, mysterious, life-giving
mission. The beatitudes are not a series of
commands: be merciful! Act as
peacemakers! Rather they picture for us the
face of Christ in sketching the vocation of
every disciple of Christ, drawn to share in
his Passion and Resurrection. They
spotlight the essential qualities, actions and
attitudes of Christian living; they offer the
paradoxical promises which sustain hope in
our tribulations; they announce the
blessings and rewards already secured….
Jesus promises a unique type of happiness:
to inherit God’s Kingdom, to possess the
earth, to be a child of God, to receive
mercy, to see God. – (CFC 744-45)
• The BEATITUDES respond to the natural
desire for happiness. This desire is of divine
origin: God has placed it in the human heart
to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill
it.—(CCC1718)
• The BEATITUDES reveal the goal of
human existence, the ultimate end of
human acts: GOD calls us into His own
beatitude. – (CCC 1719)
“See, Mother, I make all things new.”
(Isaiah 43:19 & Rev 21:5)
-“See, I am doing something new! Now it
springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the
wilderness I make a way, in the wasteland,
rivers.” ( “See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the wilderness I make a way, in the
wasteland, rivers.” (Isaiah 43:19)
-The one who sat on the throne* said,
“Behold, I make all things new.” Then he
said, “Write these words down, for they are
trustworthy and true.” (Rev 21:5)
BEATITUDES
-“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the Kingdom of Heaven.” Mt.5:3
•It refers to a positive kind of poverty – that
is, Evangelical poverty:
1. Humility
2. Confidence in God
3. Realizing our utter powerlessness apart
from God.
•Kingdom of Heaven & Kingdom of God
•God as King. God reigns. Paghahari ng
Diyos sa ating buhay, tahanan, lipunan…
•It is a gift of salvation
•The urgency of Christ’s message demand
from us a decision involving our whole
existence.
•Like the parable… the “Buried Treasure”
“The faithful servant waiting for his master”
-“Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted.”
• To mourn is an ethical expression.
• When we mourn because of :
1. Our sin
2. Suffering of the innocent.
3. Evil in the world.
-“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the land.”
•Meekness is NOT passivity.
•It is NOT servile conformism.
•It is NOT unprincipled tolerance.
•It is the stability of spirit.
•The capacity to bear reproaches & slights
with moderation, not to embark on revenge,
not easily provoked.
Meekness…
•Has the passion to right the wrong,
•To confront injustice,
•To offer healing & renewal to the
wrongdoer.
The meek person…
•Has a deep conviction & experience of
God’s power within him/her.
…Inherit the land.
•Finding our true Security in God.

-“Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
•Justice is the practical demand of love.
•Love without justice is hypocrisy.
•Justice without love is cruelty.
•To love is to look after the welfare of our
neighbor. – (St. Thomas A.)
-“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
attain mercy.”
•Mercy is not simply an emotion.
•It is an action.
•It is the movement of the heart that shifts
attention from one’s pain to the pain of
another.
•God is the source of mercy.
•Mercy is love in action.
•To do something to alleviate the suffering
of the other esp. the innocent.
“Blessed are the merciful…”
•To be merciful is to be compassionate. To
care.
-“Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the
Kingdom of God.”
•To suffer for righteousness’ sake.
•Not just any kind of persecution.
•But in the name of what is true, good, and
just.
•To carry our cross faithfully,
uncompromisingly.
“If you wish to be my disciple, pick up your
cross, and follow me…” “Who, though he
was in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form
of a slave, coming in human likeness, and
found human in appearance, he humbled
himself, becoming obedient to death, even
death on a Cross.” – Phil 2:6-8

Etymologically:
•It is to be present to the situation of the
person. To place himself in the situation of
the person.
•To feel as he/she feels.
•To know what he/she needs.
•To address his/her need.

-“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they

shall see God.”
•Single minded.
•Total & wholehearted commitment to God’s
command, His will, and plan.
•Not selfish. Not proud.
•Whose motives and interest are pure.
•Upright.
•To see God: here & now.
•And in heaven. To be united with God.

-“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they

shall be called sons of God.”
• Not just “peacekeepers” but to toil actively
for peace.
• Peace is the fruit of Justice & Love.
• Peace is founded on:
1. Love 2. Justice 3. Truth