| The Call to 'Better Attitudes' |
|
by George Bersabe
T oday's Gospel features Jesus' Sermon on the Plain. The Beatitudes are the heart of Jesus' preaching. Through these beatitudes, Jesus tells us how He wants us to live. He tells us that although to be part of God's KIngdom is a gift, we must work hard for it.Following them is not easy at all for it it the complete opposite of wordly standards. However, if we follow them, it brings a lot of promises, the greatest blessing of all – the blessing of God's Kingdom. The Beatitudes should open up our eyes to the kind of attitude we are supposed to have if we want to inherit the Kingdom of God. He offers us a way of life different from what we are living now. That is why, they are difficult to follow because they will actually contradict with the way we live our Christian life now.
Jesus gave us an alternative to be truly happy. He showed the way to it by observing these beatitudes Himself. He calls us to be responsible for one another and not simply for ourselves. He calls us to relate with others and be friends to all. He commands us to love everyone regardless of the person's status in life. He wants us to love especially the least, the lost and the last ones who are left alone because of poverty, racial discriminations, persecutions and the like. He wants us to be extra loving and understanding to them so that they, too, may feel and experience the love of God. Remember that the KIngdom of God belongs to such as these (Mt.19:14b). The Beatitudes are also know as "Sermon on the Mount" because here Jesus gives us the highest moral and spiritual rule or guidelines to a moral and spiritual life. These Beatitudes were first addressed to His disciples because they will be the ones who will witness for Jesus. They are addressed to us, too. As followers of Jesus, we are responsible for the change of our behaviour and attitude in life, especially our relationship with God and other people. St. Luke highlights two opposing attitudes here and each of the Beatitudes has a corresponding woe. They reveal that happiness, humanization and the meaning of life itself, amidst a world troubled by misery, sin and unhappiness are a gift of God to us in Jesus. By accepting this gift, we shall have happiness and life to the fullest. The challenge of the Beatitudes is centering on our attitude. May we become better persons every day every time we follow the commands of Jesus. Happy are we who follow these for our reward is great in heaven.
Prayer:
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
