Dear friends:

Today’s gospel deals with the beatitudes. The beatitudes are not impossible ideals, but ideal possibilities. They enlarge our perception of who we are and what we can become. Unlike the ten commandments, the beatitudes are not new laws to live up to, but a new way of living beyond laws. They are the life of faith laid down for us, the meat and meaning of what the reign of God is and what it is accomplishing.

In the beatitudes, Jesus speaks the language of benediction where generosity counts for more than success, where humility means more than haughtiness, where compassion is far greater than drive, where interdependence offers much more than self-sufficiency. The beatitudes urge us to look beyond the appearance of things in order to find real spiritual substance.

The cynic may say that only winners inherit the earth, not the meek. Or, that there is no such thing as a good looser. But this assessment of life is entirely wrong. It stops at appearances and misses the point. To be a good winner or a good loser means achieving your goals and objectives in life with integrity of spirit; that is, by having the proper attitudes in your dealings with one another. To appreciate the beatitudes is to accept the real substance of spiritual life. It means putting on those spiritual attitudes that change a person from within.

Jesus gave us eight blessed attitudes or beatitudes so that they can renew the human heart. Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people say or do, It is more important than appearances, than talent, than a job. It will make or break a family, a church, a business. The wonderful thing is that Jesus gives us a choice concerning the attitude we will embrace each day. We cannot change the past, we cannot alter the facts of life, we can only change the way we handle life. A healthy Christian attitude is the best thing you have going for you. Cherish it.

Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Hugh Duffy