Continuing with our
look at the Beatitudes, we come to one which challenges our approach to life.
Scripture for
meditation: Matthew 5:6
”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
The Catechism of
the Catholic Church tells us: IV. CHRISTIAN HOLINESS
2013 "All
Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian
life and to the perfection of charity."All are called to holiness:
"Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Mt 5:48.
In order to reach this perfection the faithful should use
the strength dealt out to them by Christ's gift, so that . . . doing the will
of the Father in everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the
glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus the holiness of the
People of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the
history of the Church through the lives of so many saints.
2014 Spiritual progress
tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called
"mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through
the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery
of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if
the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted
only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
2015 The way of
perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without
renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and
mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the
Beatitudes:
He who climbs never stops going from beginning to
beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he
already knows. (St.
Gregory of Nyssa, Hom. in Cant. 8: PG 44,941C.)
2016 The children of
our holy mother the Church rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance
and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with
his grace in communion with Jesus. Keeping the same rule of life,
believers share the "blessed hope" of those whom the divine mercy
gathers into the "holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
St. Jerome tells
us: In the fourth beatitude our Lord is asking us not simply to have a
vague desire for righteousness: we should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we
should love and strive earnestly to seek what makes a man righteous in God’s
eyes. A person who genuinely wants to attain Christian holiness should love the
means which the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation, offers all men and
teaches them to use – frequent use of the sacraments, an intimate relationship
with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet one’s social, professional and
family responsibilities.(Commentary on
Matthew, 5,6)
My thoughts: To
be righteous is to be holy: to be determined to do the will of God. It follows
that if we have emptied ourselves of all earthly attachments, have mourned our
past sinful lives, and have developed an attitude of humility, we should then
be obsessed with God, in a good way. Living out the Ten Commandments, finding
ways to bring God’s will into our workplaces and family lives, and developing a
strong prayer life will help us to achieve holiness. If you have ever been
truly hungry or horribly thirsty, you know how strongly you desired to be
satisfied. That is the radical way we must now lead our lives – so hungry and
thirsty for God, that nothing of this world will ever satisfy our need.
Prayer: Saint
Joseph, chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary,
intercede to obtain for me the gift of purity.
You, who despite your personal insecurities
accepted the plan of God with docility
as soon as you knew of it,
help me to have that same attitude
to respond always and everywhere
to whatever the Lord may ask of me.
Prudent man,
who do not attach yourself to human securities
but was always open to respond to the unexpected
obtain for me the help of the divine spirit
so that I may also live in prudent detachment
of earthly securities.
Model of zeal, of constant work,
of silent faithfulness, of paternal kindness,
obtain for me these blessings,
so that I may grow more in them every day,
and thus, day by day,
resemble Jesus, who is the model of full humanity.
intercede to obtain for me the gift of purity.
You, who despite your personal insecurities
accepted the plan of God with docility
as soon as you knew of it,
help me to have that same attitude
to respond always and everywhere
to whatever the Lord may ask of me.
Prudent man,
who do not attach yourself to human securities
but was always open to respond to the unexpected
obtain for me the help of the divine spirit
so that I may also live in prudent detachment
of earthly securities.
Model of zeal, of constant work,
of silent faithfulness, of paternal kindness,
obtain for me these blessings,
so that I may grow more in them every day,
and thus, day by day,
resemble Jesus, who is the model of full humanity.
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