“…Since all men aim at happiness, but, for the most part, unfortunately deceive themselves in the means by which it is to be attained, Jesus begins this discourse [of the Sermon on the Mount] by showing both in what true happiness consists, and by what means it is to be acquired. He describes the happiness of eternity as the object of all others the most deserving our attention, and makes the happiness of this life to consist in the general means that may lead us to it; for certainly, the only real and solid happiness of mankind here, is that of being in the direct road to a happy eternity hereafter.
Now the general means which are proper to conduct us to eternal felicity, and which also constitute our real happiness even in this life, he reduces under two heads; to suffer evil, and to do good; or, in other words, to be patient and innocent. Patience comprises four beatitudes, which are poverty of spirit, mounting, hunger and thirst after justice, and persecution. Innocence includes the other four, meekness, mercy, cleanness of heart, and the love of peace. To all these he promises the reward of eternal felicity, which however he expresses in different terms, according to the nature of the virtue to be rewarded. These we proceed now to explain in the order observed by the Evangelists.
1. ” Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus declares all those happy even in this life, who are poor in spirit, or in heart and affection. In this beatitude are comprised all those who, for the sake of Jesus Christ, voluntarily abandon their worldly possessions; –likewise all who, being born to a state of poverty, or reduced to it by accident, humbly submit to their lot without envying a more affluent state. Lastly, all those who, though abounding in worldly goods, yet place not therein their confidence or affection, but are ever ready to part with them, when the will of God calls for this sacrifice at their hands. The former, who are really poor, as well as the latter, who are only so in spirit, enjoy happiness even in this life, because though they be here in indigence, or willing to be reduced to it if God so decree, yet as the kingdom of heaven with all its riches belongs to them, their well-founded claim is deservedly considered as the source of solid happiness.
2. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land.”
Jesus here declares all those to be happy who are meek, i.e. who far from offending their neighbour, or doing him any harm, bend to the oppression of others, without even resisting such as are manifestly unjust. These are happy; because if their meekness exposes them to be ill-treated and driven from their possessions by the ambition and rapacity of others, heaven, upon that title, becomes their due, as their own land and inheritance.
3. “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.”
He declares those to be happy, who are sorrowful according to God, who shed tears in his sight for their own transgressions and for those of others; or, who lament the spiritual miseries and dangers of this life; a life which they view in no other light than as a banishment from their true country; or, who bewail before God the public calamities which take place in the world, or the particular evils, whether temporal or spiritual, to which individuals of all ranks are subject. Persons of this description are deservedly declared happy, because heaven is their assured reward, which is here pointed out under the title of comfort in their afflictions.
4. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall be filled.”
He declares all those to be happy who hunger and thirst after justice, i.e. who earnestly desire and pray that justice and order may reign both in themselves and others. This desire makes us pray that the name of God may be sanctified, that his kingdom may come, and his blessed will be accomplished by all mankind. These are happy in the assurance they have, that their virtuous wishes will one day be completely satisfied, when sin being destroyed even in its very source, which is concupiscence, God alone shall reign all in all, and fill them with a torrent of spiritual delights.
5. “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.”
He declares all those to be happy who are merciful, viz. they who show a compassionate tenderness towards the miseries and wants of their neighbours, and who, if his miseries be corporal, readily afford him such helps as are proportioned to his wants and to their own means; or, if of a spiritual nature, they endeavour to reform him by their instructions, or at least by their example give proofs of their merciful disposition, by forgiving injuries, or by fulfilling other duties of charity. These are happy, because a promise is here made to them, that heaven will one day be bestowed upon them as their crown and reward, and as a wonderful instance of God’s gratuitous mercy.
6. “Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God.”
He declares those to be happy whose hearts are clean, and disengaged from all inordinate love of creatures: this cleanness extends itself from the heart to the whole man; it shows itself in the body by a chastity of manners, in the soul by a general mortification of the passions, in the will by simplicity and an upright intention, and in the mind by a rejection of all sinful thoughts. Persons of this description are happy, because being divested of all inordinate affections to creatures, which like clouds obstruct their sight, they shall one day see God face to face in his glory.
7. ” Blessed are the peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of God.”
He declares peace-makers happy, i.e., all such as love peace, and procure it both to themselves and others; who are ever ready, by making the first advances, to seek a reconciliation with others, and to grant forgiveness to those who solicit for it, by readily consenting to an oblivion of past differences. These are happy, because even in this life they are the children of God, who is the God of peace, and they will be infinitely more so hereafter in heaven, which is the kingdom of eternal peace.
8. “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
He declares those happy who suffer persecution, not like the wicked, in punishment of their crimes, but for justice and truth, i. e. for their faith and virtue; who suffer, in a good cause, the loss of their country and friends by banishment; the loss of their honour, by marks of infamy; the loss of their goods, by forfeiture; of their liberty, by imprisonment; of their health by torments of their bodies, or members by mutilation; finally, who suffer the loss of their very lives, by martyrdom. Happy are these, because after having fought in the cause of truth, heaven is justly their due; –”their acquired kingdom, the subject of their triumph and of their glory.
The last beatitude being the most important, Jesus enters into a more minute explanation of it, and thus encourages his disciples and followers when suffering in his cause. “Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, when they shall separate you” from your friends and country by banishment and imprisonment, “and shall reproach you” for being Christians and Catholics, “and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man’s sake; and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you untruly for my sake. Be glad in that day and rejoice: for behold your reward is great in heaven. For according to these things did their fathers persecute the prophets that were before you,” and the part you have in their sufferings will entitle you to share likewise in their glory.
To display this doctrine in yet a stronger light, Jesus contrasts the persons thus declared happy under four of these beatitudes, with four other descriptions of men, to whom he denounces eternal misery. “But wo to you” says he, “that are rich” in your hearts, whether really possessed of riches or only so in desire; “because you have your consolation,” such as it is, here in this world. “Wo to you that are filled,” and make good cheer the sole object of your pursuit: “for you shall hunger” eternally hereafter. “Wo to you that now laugh,” and pass your time in vain pleasures and amusements: “for you shall mourn and weep,” hereafter without ceasing. “Wo to you,” ministers, “when men shall bless” and applaud you “for preaching to them erroneous doctrines; for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets,” who pleased them with easy and novel doctrines, such as were no less pernicious to the souls of men than they were flattering to their passions.
What we have hitherto given of Christ’s sermon, appertains to the exordium, and merits our most serious consideration.”