Jesus went up the mountain

1 NOVEMBER (Mt 5,1-12a)

There does not exist any true community without real law. The false law makes false a community. The true law makes the community true. The absence of law throws the community into chaos, into a personal feeling, into confusion. In ancient times God has built his community on the Commandments. It is on them that he made a covenant with his people.

Then God delivered all these commandments: “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain. “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you. “You shall not kill. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him” (Ex 20,1-17).

But God was working with the old man: old in his heart, mind, soul, spirit, body; old because of sin that governed him. It is sin that makes us old, poor, miserable, petty, inconclusive, unable to love according to the fullness of truth. Yet, man is a spark of God. A spark of truth, holiness, omnipotence, charity, justice and peace. Sin from a spark of light makes him become a bank of fog and darkness. It obscures his mind. It makes his heart of stone. It blinds him in the feelings of charity and compassion. It makes him lazy and slothful in charity. Jesus came to create man new. He creates him new, making him share in the divine nature, giving him as his soul the Holy Spirit. This new man needs a new law: the law of charity and of the purest love. They are the Beatitudes.

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Beatitudes are the perfect justice. They are the nature of God which is manifested to man so that he realizes it in his history. He was made partaker of the divine nature. He is called to live according to this nature. Jesus shows it to him in the form of the Gospel so that he never loses sight of it. Not only does he show it to him with the Word, he also lives it, leaving him his example, so that every one of his disciples imitates him for all the days of his life. Lord Jesus lived fully the whole nature of God in his flesh and in his body. Rather, lived more that the divine nature. In fact, this is immortal. It cannot love until the death by the cross. God in the flesh of his Son, can love until death by the cross. God in Christ reaches the absolute perfection of love. He wants this perfection to be reached by all his children. Their new nature demands it. The statute of love requires it. The very body of man wants it for its perfection.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints teach us true love.