The Beatitudes are the heart and soul of Jesus’s teachings. They are what make His teachings unique, and set Him apart from all other teachers, Rabbis, Imams or Gurus in the history of mankind. Yet, you hear precious little about the Beatitudes when you turn on the radio or television and listen to preachers and televangelists talk about Jesus. Why is this? Do they regard the Beatitudes of lesser importance than Armageddon, the last days, the rapture or is it possible they don’t understand the importance of the Beatitudes of Jesus and their significance in the lives of Christians?

We must not fail to appreciate the sheer impact and importance of the eight beatitudes (Matthew 5 : 1-10) for they are, indeed, the very essence of Christianity. The beatitudes are not impossible ideals, but ideal possibilities. They enlarge our perception of what we can become when taken into our lives. Unlike the ten commandments, the beatitudes are not new laws to live up to, but a new way of living that completes or fulfills the law. These new habits of the heart form the core of the gifts of faith, hope, and love which usher in the reign of God.

In the beatitudes, Jesus speaks the language of benediction where humility means more than pride (first beatitude), where compassion is far greater than drive (second beatitude), where meekness is more important than haughtiness (third beatitude), where generosity counts for more than success (fourth beatitude), where mercy tempers justice (fifth beatitude), where truthfulness puts the lie to deviousness ( sixth beatitude), where waging peace is superior to waging war (seventh beatitude), and where courage, in the face of persecution, overcomes complacency (eighth beatitude). These wonderful attitudes of Christ urge us to look beyond appearances to find real spiritual substance.

The cynic may say that only winners, not the meek, inherit the earth. Or, that there is no such thing as a good looser. But this assessment of life’s purpose 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. It means having the proper attitudes in your dealings with one another. To appreciate the beatitudes is to accept the real substance of the gospel. It means putting on those spiritual attitudes of Christ that change a person from within.

Jesus gave us eight glorious attitudes or beatitudes so that they would renew the human heart. Attitude is more important than past achievements, than money, than circumstances, than successes, or on what other people say about us. This is not to say these things are not important. They are, but they will only bear precious fruit when they spring from the right attitude. A bad attitude, on the other hand, will break a family, a church, or a business.

The wonderful thing is that the Holy Spirit enables us to adopt the right kind of attitudes each day. We cannot change the past, and we don’t know what tomorrow might bring. But, we can chose our attitudes and the way we conduct our affairs each day.

A healthy Christian attitude is the best thing you have going for you. Cherish the Beatitudes of Jesus by the way you live.

Fr. Hugh Duffy