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I have often found the Beatitudes to be scholarly and elusive. Not just the language itself, which feels antiquated, but the meaning (or I should say misinterpretation) that I have always had. Often when the Sermon on the Mount is read at Church, like it was this past week, I solemnly listen to it and then quickly move on to happier, more lighthearted thoughts.
Until today.
This morning, I listened to Bishop Barron give a sermon on the Beatitudes, and it captured my soul in a way that other explanations have not. Here is the link if you want to listen to his 13 minute message with a cup of coffee or tea. It appears I have misunderstood the Beatitudes as a call to humility and poverty to the point of austerity, and somehow finding joy in all that. Boy was I waaaaaaayyyy off.
The Beatitudes are about our souls finding rest and happiness as much as we can while on this earth. In other words, Christ is not trying to hit us over the head with the message that we should be sad minions, but rather unbelievably joyful and happy if we shift our focus to be on giving of ourselves that is ultimately self-fulfilling and finding our true purpose while on this Earth. Pablo Picasso said it so well: The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
In the spirit of ensuring my Beatitude misinterpretations stop with me, and do not get passed down to my children, I spent time this morning capturing some of the key spiritual truths that Bishop Barron expresses so beautifully in his Sunday Sermon.
I gave a copy of this summary to my husband and children to tuck in their bibles. The goal is to use the content in a casual "Beatitude Study" over the next few weeks after dinner. My hope is that our family falls in love with the Beatitudes, as I did today, and hold them close to their heart.
I am putting a copy of this summary here as a download, should you wish to use it.
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