Pope Benedict XVI and the Beatitudes

Pope Benedict XVI and the Beatitudes
In writing about the Beatitudes, Pope Benedict XVI discusses in depth how we are to act today as Catholics. He starts off by making it clear that the Beatitudes were not meant to make new commandments. Rather, they give us a deeper understanding of Christ’s teachings and the importance of each one. There are many reasons that Jesus phrases the Beatitudes in the way that He does. In order to understand each Beatitude, we must know the Jewish ancestry and the importance of certain words and groups of people in that day. Pope Benedict tells us that the Beatitudes are “situated within a long tradition of Old Testament teachings.”
The first Beatitude that Pope Benedict XVI writes about is the “poor in spirit.” Many people have a hard time understanding whether Jesus meant that the people who were “poor in spirit” were spiritually poor or physically poor. Pope Benedict helps us to understand that Jesus meant both. He compares the people who are poor to the common people of Jesus’ time. They were poor, yet they were mostly strong in their faith. However, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were considered publically as very holy and close to God. But, they were also are rich and wealth by taking the donations of the common people. Therefore, those who were seen as “poor in spirit” were poor people and common people who prayed quietly to God for their needs.
The second Beatitude that Pope Benedict writes about is “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt 5:5). Similar to the first Beatitude, the people who are seen as meek are the common people who pray to God from their hearts and not as a show like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. One important note he makes is that the same word used by Moses for the meek was used in the Beatitudes. Another important thing that Pope Benedict brings up is how the people who were in power came and went. He stresses, however, that those who were meek were the ones who were able to prosper because they were let be in the midst of everything.
The third Beatitude that Pope Benedict talks about the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt 5:9). A major point I feel is very important is that Pope Benedict established how God promised David that we will have peace in all of Israel’s days. He then goes on to show how Jesus is the Son of David. He therefore showed that Jesus is the peacemaker for all of Israel as the Son of David. Pope Benedicts also states that “Enmity with God is the source of all that poisons man; overcoming this enmity is the basic condition for peace in the world.” In this one powerful statement Pope Benedict hits the core of the Beatitudes.
The fourth Beatitude is about those who morn will be comforted (Mt 5:4). Pope Benedict establishes a good difference between the two types of mourning. The first type is when one has lost hope and it hurts and eats away the person. This is unhealthy. The other is the “mourning heals” mourning, which is healthy and needed. It is the mourning that changes oneself.
The fifth Beatitude that Jesus talks about is about being persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Mt 5:10). This Beatitude is very much connected with the previous Beatitude that the Pope talks about. Those who are persecuted are mourning in the healthy way. Therefore, they are comforted through Jesus and they are able to stay strong enough in the faith to be persecuted and not change their beliefs. Through this Beatitude we hope to achieve unity in Christ’s suffering and the eternal gifts granted to us through Christ’s love.
The last Beatitude that Pope Benedict talks about is “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). I think this is a crucial Beatitude. One must be pure and “capable of perceiving God” because without that his soul would be affected in a negative way. This would result in a person being unable to see God and make it harder to grow in love and communion with God.