The recurring theme in the book of Revelation is about victory. The victory of Christ, after His suffering and death, now reign victorious and gloriously triumphant in Heaven. Because of this, those who remain faithful will also be victorious in their trials and sufferings. The second reading teaches us that Divine Sonship is sharing in God’s own Son. A “here and now” concept, which means that we already experience this life, but its complete fruition will be when we reach His Kingdom, where God reigns supreme.

The Beatitudes (The Blessed) present the new spirit required of the disciples of Christ. A disciple works not for the benefit of the temporal end but the promised Kingdom. Their motivation is the Messianic blessings, be comforted with God’s victory against the forces of evil, a beatific vision, and the joy of seeing God face to face.

The Blessed

In the Church, before Holy men and women become saints, they are called “the Blessed.” They are people who abandoned their will to the Will of God, heroes of our faith. They lived extraordinary Christian lives, poverty of spirit, absolute dependence on God. Endured so much pain and suffering, persecuted for their faith but magnanimous in mercy and charity. They showed us how to live with a pure intention and pure heart and how to be meek and humble of heart. The Blessed are people living ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.

We live in an era that needs saints, people who live with heroic virtues, otherwise this will be a society of an ordinary group of people with no one to look up to and no one to imitate with their saintly life. We need Christian models, brave and courageous in times of trials, grateful and generous in happier times and worthy of veneration and imitation. People who have found joy and blessings every moment of their lives. People who have made the “Beatitudes” the kerygma of their lives.

When St. Teresa of Avila (Founder of the discalced Carmelites) was still a child: she was often found praying together with her little brother in the garden hermitage near their home. From their lips, they would repeat the same word: “forever, forever, forever.” When somebody asked them why they are praying with the word “forever.” She replied because it means eternity. It will never end, and it will last forever! At an early age, St. Teresa already had a deep longing for eternity, to be in God’s Kingdom.

In the Gospel, our Lord motivates us to look ahead to the Kingdom of the Father, to the beatific vision of God with whom we will be in communion. It is the joy of the disciple who will remain faithful to the Will of God, despite the hardships, pains, and sufferings in life. Heaven is the vision of the All the Saints, a place they longed to live forever. The longing of countless men and women through the centuries. To be faithful to their baptismal promises, listen to the voice of God within, the voice and the stirrings of the Holy Spirit, a longing for a higher goal, Heaven. Do we take the time to reflect on eternity and the reward of a holy life here on earth?

The Church helps us to respond to the challenge of the Beatitudes every night, to be “poor in spirit,” in the recitation of the Night Prayer. At the end of the day, presents the prayer of Simeon, abandonment to God. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake, watch over us as we sleep. That awake, we may keep watch with Christ and asleep, rest in His peace. Like Simeon, we acknowledge with gratitude for having seen the salvation of the Lord. Lord, your word has been fulfilled; let us go in peace. Lord, guide us in the journey of life to live by the words in the Beatitudes.

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