Jesus, however, born in a tiny village that was "off the grid," a village filled with people who were poor in material things but rich in relationships with others and with God, rich in faith, hope, love, and mercy, experienced what real happiness is and preached the meaning of true happiness to large crowds on mountaintops and on plains. His message was undoubtedly explosive for his hearers. Some would have exploded in joy, while others would have pulled back, angry and threatened. People react the same way today! The Beatitudes are Jesus' most popular and unpopular teaching, what some have called the Gospel within the Gospel.
This is Jesus' message to the crowds, and also to us, a message that carries multiple meanings and challenges and also hope and joy. I quote from Matthew's Gospel, with Luke's different statements in parentheses:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. (Luke says "Blessed are the poor.")
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
(Luke says "Blessed are you who are hungry now")
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day, and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. (St. Luke's version of this last one.)
When we translate the original Greek, the word "Beatitude" can mean either "blessed" or "happy;" Jesus intends both meanings to carry the truth. Jesus is blessing groups of people whom society forgets, sneers at, marginalizes, and persecutes. But they are blessed in multiple ways.
Jesus gives them a promise of blessing and reward in the future, in heaven, for these blessings WILL happen. Yet Jesus is also blessing them NOW. Jesus isn't saying that being poor, hungry, or bereaved is a blessing in itself. But he is promising that in him the reign of God is here NOW and the especially hopeless can experience God's greatest love and blessings.
Jesus' upside down vision promises those on the bottom a place on the top. But Jesus is also saying that the poor and oppressed can possess character traits, virtues, and attitudes that provide the model for discipleship.
Over the next few days, we will be examining each of these Beatitudes' multiple meanings in depth.
So often we stress Matthew's "poor in spirit" and forget Luke's "poor."
Often the poor are seen as being primarily lazy ( I think of the stereotyping of all people on welfare), or an embarrassment to society. In fact, Luke uses the word "ptochoi," which refers to beggars. Fr. James Martin, S.J., comments:
"Besides reminding us that the poor are blessed by a God who promises justice for the oppressed, Jesus is also turning our attention to the way the poor live in relationship with God. While one cannot overgeneralize about those who are poor, I can say this, based on my experience over the last twenty-five years: many people who live in poverty are more conscious of their reliance on God than are their wealthier counterparts. During my two years in Kenya, I noticed this many times. There the refugees with whom I worked taught me a great deal about God. Without wealth, status, or power, their natural dependence on God was ever before them. And the refugees would regularly express thanks to God for small blessings - a found coin, getting over a cold, a conductor forgetting to ask them for their bus fare. 'God is good!' one Rwandese refugee would say whenever life went her way. Their almost constant, and constantly voiced, gratitude was a blessing for me - and a spiritual lesson.
"So was their generosity. Almost to a person, the refugees were unbelievably generous with what little they had..... We cannot lump together all the poor or all the rich....And grinding poverty is an evil. But Jesus of Nazareth, who had grown up in a poor village, knew that we can often learn much from the poor. Jesus' comments about poverty are frequent in the Gospels: over and over he asks us to care for the poor - it is a litmus test for entrance into heaven - so it is always surprising to me when Christians set aside this teaching. But Jesus is saying that more than helping the poor and more than working to combat the systems that keep them poor, we must become like them - in their simplicity, generosity, and dependence on God."
This simplicity, generosity, and dependence on God is "poverty of spirit," a characteristic of a true disciple. We need to strip ourselves of everything that keeps us from God.
Our American worship of over-reliance on self - the "self-made man" - runs directly counter to the holy acknowledgement that we need God - for everything. We are nothing without Him. Every blessing comes from Him, for He is Love.
Poverty of spirit requires humility, which is an unpopular virtue. But if we rely on God instead of ourselves, we can enjoy the joy of St. Francis, the poorest of the poor, the beggar saint. St. Francis called Death "Sister Death." He knew to the core of his being that all our trappings of wealth, possessions, power, and prestige will not travel with us beyond Death - which puts their importance into clear perspective. Only our ability to love and to give is lasting. St. Francis tells us
"Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given."