5. THE BLESSINGS OF THE KINGDOM
• are promised to the poor and the powerless;
• to the gentle and the afflicted;
• to those who seek eagerly for a righteousness beyond external
observance;
• to the compassionate and the pure-hearted;
• to those who turn from violence and seek reconciliation.
6. THE PROMISES
•Jesus promises a unique type of happiness:
•to inherit God's Kingdom,
•to possess the earth, to be a child of God,
•to receive mercy,
•to see God.
7.
8. SIGNIFICANCE
• “poor in spirit”- not identified with the materially poor
• rich or poor who put their confidence only in God
• They can be poor but even the rich could live in total dependence on
God
• To be “poor in spirit” means to realize that salvation is not achieved by
our own efforts or by what we have
• It is realizing our utter powerlessness apart from God
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. SIGNIFICANCE
• Meek are those who have surrendered themselves completely to
God.
• Meekness is not passive resignation
• Rather it is the openness to the future which God wants to realize
through us. It means being nonviolent.
• The meek are not easily provoked to anger, they have a heart that
is calm and peaceful.
• They also have the heart of correcting the wrong.
14. One of the greatest times we see the meekness of
Jesus was:
15.
16. SIGNIFICANCE
•refers to those who are sincere and who have the
compassion for those who suffer such as the lowly, the
bereaved, the victim of injustice, the oppressed, the
ones who experience poverty, loneliness and rejection.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23. SIGNIFICANCE
• Hunger and thirst refer to an ardent desire for God.
• It is a longing for what is upright, virtuous, and morally right.
• A desire for what is true and just.
• The satisfaction expressed in this beatitude refers to an inner joy
and peace that one can experience through his efforts in seeking
God’s righteousness.
• It is a satisfaction found only in God.
24.
25.
26. MEANING OF MERCY
• Mercy is not merely a feeling or emotion, rather an action.
• The merciful are those whose heart is tender and who truly feel in
the deepest parts of their being, the pain and the suffering of
those who need help.
• More importantly, they are merciful to individuals and go out of
their way and make the effort to help the needy.
• Not isolated, occasional acts of charity but living out the daily
experience of compassion
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33. CLEAN OF HEART
• This Beatitude speaks of those whose motives are undivided, those who are
sincere and single minded.
• “Clean of heart” refers to those who put God at the center of their lives.
• It also means total commitment to God’s will and plan.
• The promise to those clean of heart is to see God, which means, a vision of
God, an intimate experience of God’s presence in one’s life.
“Truly, God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart”
(Ps. 73:1)
34. Example:
Eyeglass makes our vision clear.
But if we are wearing a dirty eyeglass, what we see is the dirt
of it.
35.
36.
37.
38. PEACEMAKERS
• The ones who are blessed are not those having peaceful lives,
not the ones who are quiet, neither those who are
peacekeepers.
• The Beatitude is directed to those who commit themselves to
social justice.
• They are those who make efforts to share and bring peace to
everyone.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43. PERSECUTION
• It does not merely refer to any other kind of persecution but the
persecution for righteousness- for Christ
• It is following Christ even amidst strong oppositions.
• They are persecuted because of doing what is good.
“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter
every kind of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for
your reward will be great in heaven.” (Mt. 5:11-12).
