The Beatitudes

Reflection
When I glanced over the initial questions, I thought they were straightforward enough. Yes, I believe we should be truthful, except in '' situations; the last time I witnessed a fight, I let the situation resolve itself and consoled my friend afterwards; and the first three influences I thought of were my family, friends, and my own person. When I compared my answers to the lofty standards Jesus set at the Sermon on the Mount, I realized that most of them fell short. Jesus would have been a peacemaker and fixed the fight before consolation was needed. My faith didn't even come to mind as one of my top three influences. While I do believe one can be a good person and not live up to the somewhat idealistic Sermon, I think Christians always need to be striving to come closer to those standards. The questionnaire served as a good reminder for me to be conscious of everything I do in the context of my faith.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One key idea that stuck with me was Julio Diaz's Storycorps story. Julio was mugged by a man with a knife for all of his money. He stopped the man and invited him to dinner. They ate quietly in the diner while Julio was greeted by everyone from the chef to the dishwashers. Julio's friendliness impressed the man, and the man wondered if Julio owned the place. Julio told him that he was just a frequent customer, and that he was just always nice to everyone. Julio's example moved the mugger enough that he gave Julio his wallet back. This story parallels Jesus' frequent encounters with the less fortunate and is a perfect example of how following the "a href="http://www.jcu.edu/philosophy/gensler/goldrule.htm">Golden Rule can help us.

Another key idea I want to remember is solidarity. The idea that humans are one big society and that we are part of one family enforces Jesus' teaching that we must treat all others the way we would have ourselves treated. Humanity's unity is why everyone is called to serve each other. The Jesuit motto 'Men for Others' exemplifies this idea. And when we are men (and women) for others, we grow closer to God, which is the goal of our entire existence.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



I chose this photograph because it shows a relaxed MLK. This image is appealing to me because it shows a side of him not usually revealed in the action shots of his fire-and-brimstone addresses.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Key Question: Why did Jesus give us the Beatitudes?
The purpose of the Beatitudes is to guide humans toward perfection. They represent a more direct map to perfection than the Ten Commandments, which are more minimal laws. The Beatitudes, therefore, are a stricter code and seem discouraging. How can we ever achieve the goals outlined in Jesus' sermon? After much pondering I decided that my answer to this question fits with my response to the questionnaire above: we need to always strive for perfection, even if we can never erase the damage done by Original Sin. We need to follow Ten Commandments to get into heaven but in order to achieve perfection we must live the Beatitudes.






Back to My Homepage