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The Beatitudes are an overturning of popular thinking, according to which it is the rich and the powerful who are blessed, those who are successful and acclaimed by the crowds.
For Jesus, on the other hand, blessed are the poor, the meek, those who remain just even at the cost of appearing in a bad light, and those who are persecuted.
Who is correct here: Jesus or the world?
To understand this, let us look at how Jesus lived: poor in respect to things, but wealthy in love; He healed so many lives, but did not spare his own. He came to serve and not to be served; he taught us that greatness is not found in having but rather in giving.
Just and meek, he did not offer resistance, but allowed himself to be condemned unjustly. In this way, Jesus brought God’s love into the world. Only in this way did he defeat death, sin, fear and even worldliness: Only by the power of divine love.
Let us together ask here today for the grace of rediscovering the attraction of following Jesus, of imitating him, of not seeking anyone else but him and his humble love. For here is the meaning of our life: in communion with him and in love for others. Do you believe in this?…
Dear brothers and sisters, living out the Beatitudes does not require dramatic gestures. Look at Jesus: he left nothing written, built nothing imposing. And when he told us how to live, he did not ask us to build great works or draw attention to ourselves with extraordinary gestures.
He asked us to produce just one work of art, possible for everyone: our own life.
The Beatitudes are thus a roadmap for our life: they do not require superhuman actions, but rather the imitation of Jesus in our everyday life.
They invite us to keep our hearts pure, to practice meekness and justice despite everything, to be merciful to all, to live affliction in union with God. This is the holiness of daily life, one that has no need of miracles or of extraordinary signs. The Beatitudes are not for supermen, but for those who face up to the challenges and trials of each day.
Those who live out the Beatitudes according to Jesus are able to cleanse the world. They are like a tree that even in the wasteland absorbs polluted air each day and gives back oxygen. It is my hope that you will be like this, rooted in Jesus and ready to do good to those around you. May your communities be oases of peace.
Excerpted from a homily delivered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, published Feb. 5, 2019
