Rev. John Campoli, i.v.dei
His Love Ministries

There was a long-running Soap Opera called One Life to Live. My mother watched it every day. The title is so true. We only have one life to live. And the key to living that life is Jesus. He tells us in John's gospel: "I have come so that you might have life—life in all its fullness." (10:10). Matthew's gospel gives us the key to that full life in the Beatitudes.

Many of us feel we are living good lives if we keep the commandments. "I haven't broken any of the ten, so I'm fine." But Jesus tells us that this is not enough. Most of the commandments begin with "Thou shalt not." If all we do is follow them, we are doing nothing. No positive action is required to follow them. They certainly don't lead us to a full life.

The beatitudes take us in a different direction, the path to a full life. Listen again to what Jesus promises if we reorient our lives to the beatitudes. Jesus says, "Theirs is the kingdom of God," "They will be comforted," "They will inherit the land," "They will be satisfied," "They will be shown mercy," "They will see God," "They will be called children of God," Jesus says, "Theirs is the kingdom of God," and "Your reward will be great in heaven." We all want this, right? That is why the beatitudes are Jesus' recipe for living a beautiful life. Jesus gives a new glimpse today of where our path should lead from here. It is the narrow road that leads to heaven.

Be poor in spirit – totally depend on God.

Be merciful – forgive yourself and others.

Be meek – have the goodwill to improve a bad situation.

Be pure of heart - have a heart that shows acts of love and mercy and beats for righteousness and justice. There is no hatred or jealousy in a pure heart.

Be a peacemaker - actively work to reconcile with others, bring together adversaries, and work in harmony with one another.

Be persecuted – realize that living a Christian life in this world contradicts many of the world's values, and some people will ridicule and put you down.

Living these six will cause mourning. We mourn not only the violence, hatred, and injustices present in this world but also our sins and the sins of others.

But in our world, so upside down, the fourth beatitude gives us hope. It is the beatitude for the imperfect disciple. In the 1970s, a popular poster read, "Be patient. God is not finished with me yet." When we are not the people God has called us to be, it tells us that if we continue to yearn for righteousness, hunger, and thirst to be true disciples, God will work with us. God will make us merciful, peaceful, pure, humble, and loving. If we continue to desire what God has called us to be, this beatitude promises that all is not lost. We can change. Someday, our desire to be righteous will carry us into the kingdom of God.

The Beatitudes' message takes on a new level of meaning when we realize they're a mini-biography of Jesus' life. He is the ultimate peacemaker, has the purest heart, is merciful, and, most importantly, was persecuted—for us! The road to happiness may not be easy, but Jesus gave us the blueprint. All we have to do is follow it!

But what if we fail sometimes?

Each one of the beatitudes begins by describing a present quality or condition in us that will lead us to happiness and inclusion into the kingdom of God. Most of the beatitudes point to a virtue, a good habit, which qualifies us to belong to the kingdom: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy; Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God; Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. These qualities of mercy, purity, and peace characterize the kingdom and those who belong to it.

But one of the beatitudes is different—the fourth beatitude. The fourth beatitude does not begin with a present virtue or good habit but rather with a hope or desire: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” The fourth beatitude says that we are blessed if we desire righteousness. What is righteousness? It is what God calls us to be. It is righteousness that marks us for the kingdom. It is, in fact, what the other beatitudes describe. To be a person of mercy, of purity, of peace means that you are righteous. The other beatitudes say we are blessed if we have these qualities; the fourth beatitude says we are blessed if we wish we had these qualities. As such, this beatitude qualifies as a loophole, as an escape clause for us. For it tells us even if we are not completely merciful or pure or peaceful, if we hunger and thirst for those virtues, we can still be included in the kingdom of God.