“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:3-11
“God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us “partakers of the divine nature” and of eternal life. With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life. Such beatitude surpasses the understanding and powers of man. It comes from an entirely free gift of God: whence it is called supernatural, as is the grace that disposes man to enter into the divine joy.” Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1721-1722
As I sit here praying the Beatitudes, having just read these two CCC paragraphs, it comes to mind that the Blessed Mother is the human fulfillment of the Beatitudes. “It comes from an entirely free gift of God: whence it is called supernatural, as is the grace that disposes man to enter into the divine joy.”
No human who has walked the face of the earth is more blessed then the Blessed Mother. She lives in a state of grace from her conception by the grace of her Son’s sacrifice and love.
As I read each Beatitude, Mary stands out.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” – Mary is the most humble of people. She consented to God’s Will as His handmaid. (Luke 1:38)
“Blessed are those who mourn” – Mary watched men crucify and murder her son, knowing her Son to be the Son of God. She mourned for the loss of her boy as well as the death of her God and the sin of man.
“Blessed are the meek” – Again, Mary is humble at the conception of Jesus and follows Him along the streets to Calvary. Never once crying out to stop the cries of ‘crucify Him.’ The 24 hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ makes this evident.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” – Mary desired the Kingdom of her son so much that when He warned her at Cana, she gave orders to “do whatever He tells you.’
Blessed are the merciful” – Mother of Mercy. She showed mercy to her friends at Cana and to every soul at the hour of death.
“Blessed are the pure in heart” – Mary is the Immaculate Conception – conceived without original sin. Purest of heart. Oh, and yes, she saw God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers”
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” – Mary faced her Sin’s persecution as foreseen by Simeon (Luke 1:38).
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Mary faces revilement by the world. She is the mother of God, revered by God’s Son, her Son, to the perfection of the 4th Commandment. Yet, the world, the Protestant world demeans her place and belittles her. Belittles to the point of not considering or talking of her. Want to slap someone in the face? Ignore them.
Maybe it’s a stretch to connect these dots. But, it does give the soul something to ponder upon. Meditating upon Jesus’ roadmap to Heaven in the Beatitudes and upon the one person who on earth was the Beatitudes personified. She is the exemplar of the Beatitude life.
““God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us “partakers of the divine nature” and of eternal life. With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life.”