Pope Francis said that In order to give
Himself to us, God often chooses “un-
thinkable” paths that point us beyond our
“limitations, tears and failures,” towards
that Paschal joy born of Christ’s own
passage from death to life.
Speaking to the pilgrims gathered in the
Paul VI Hall for the Wednesday General
Audience, he reflected on the Sermon on
the Mount pronounced by Jesus who, he
said, “enlightened” the lives of believers
and also of many non-believers.
“It is difficult,” the Pope said, not to be
touched by these words, and he en-
couraged the faithful to understand and
welcome them “ever more fully” because
“they contain a kind of Christian identity
card”.
The proclamation of the Beatitudes
The Pope explained how the proc-
lamation of the message came about:
When He saw the crowds Jesus went up
the “sweet slope” surrounding the Lake
of Galilee, sat down and addressed the
disciples proclaiming the Beatitudes.
“The message is addressed to the
disciples, but there are crowds stretching
to the horizon, there is all humanity. It is a
message for all humanity,” he said.
A new law
The “mountain”, the Pope continued,
recalls the one in Sinai, where God
gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
However this time, he said, the setting is
not that of a “terrible storm”, but of a place
in which the “sweet power” of the Good
News is in the air. Thus, Pope Francis said,
Jesus began to teach a new law that calls
us to be poor, to be meek, to be merciful.
God’s gift
Pope Francis explained that each
Beatitude is composed of three parts: the
opening word “Blessed” followed by the
situation in which those who are called
blessed find themselves – poor in spirit,
mourning, thirsting for justice – and
finally the reason for which they are
blessed.
“There are eight Beatitudes and it would
be nice to learn them by heart and to
repeat them in order to keep this law that
Jesus gives us in our mind and in our
hearts,” he said.
He highlighted that the reason for Be-
atitude is not to be found in one’s present
situation, but in the new condition that
those who are blessed receive as a gift
from God: “For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven”, “for they will be comforted”, “for
they will inherit the land” and so on.
A condition of grace
As for the “reason” for happiness, the
Pope noted that Jesus often uses passive
verbs like “they will be satisfied”, “they
will be shown mercy”, “they will be called
children of God”; saying that the Beati-
tudes teach that we are blessed not by our
present situation, but rather by the new
condition that is ours by God’s grace
The Pope went on to dwell on the
word “Blessed”, saying that in its original
meaning it does not indicate someone
“with a full belly or who is doing well.” He
explained that it refers to a person who
finds him or herself in a state of grace and
who is going forward on the path indicat-
ed by God with patience, poverty, service
towards others, consolation.
“He or she who goes forward on that
path is happy, will be blessed,” he said.
Read the Beatitudes
Reiterating that the Beatitudes “always
lead to joy”, the Pope invited those present
to take the Gospel of Matthew in hand
and read chapter 5, verse 1 to 11, “perhaps
a couple of times during the week, in
order to understand this beautiful and
secure path to happiness that the Lord
proposes to us.”
Greetings to pilgrims
At the end of the audience, Pope Francis
greeted the groups of pilgrims present in
various languages, and reminded those
from Poland that on Sunday, on the
Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord,
the Day for Consecrated Life is celebrated
in their country and he asked for prayers:
“Let us pray for the religious who
dedicate themselves to God and to their
brothers and sisters in daily service, ac-
cording to their charism, so that they may
always be faithful witnesses of Christ’s
saving love. Let us also pray for new
vocations to the consecrated life.”