“Rejoice, be glad…” (Mt 5, 1-12a) | RCF

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

During that time,
seeing the crowds, Jesus climbed the mountain.
He sat down, and his disciples approached him.
Then, opening his mouth, he taught them.
He said :
“Blessed are the poor in heart,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who weep,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Happy are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Happy are you if you are insulted,
if you are persecuted
and if any kind of evil is said falsely against you,
because of me.
Rejoice, be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven! »

Source: AELF

Meditation Archbishop Emmanuel Gobilliard

Holiness is God inviting himself into our daily lives. Blessed are those who weep, not because they weep, but because God is beside them, and happier still are those who weep for their sin and then weep for joy after having received his forgiveness. This beatitude, moreover (happy are those who weep) can pose a problem for those who know their new testament where Saint Paul writes to us, and we will hear it in a few weeks: “rejoice always in the Lord”. So should we cry or be happy. The answer is not in an attitude. We do not create a figure or an attitude. The only answer that can make us happy, no matter what we are going through, is this: whether you cry or laugh, whether you suffer or experience pleasure, invite God into your life, because “who can separate us from the love of Christ? distress ? the anxiety? persecution ? hunger ? destitution? the danger ? the Glave ? neither death nor life, neither angels nor celestial Principalities, neither the present nor the future, neither the Powers, nor the heights, nor the abysses, nor any other creature, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God who is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8) Blessed are those who are persecuted, not because they are persecuted, but because Jesus is at their side, he who has been rejected, humiliated, ridiculed, tortured. Blessed are the peaceful, those who do good, who speak good. They resemble God who never ceases to say good things about us, to love us. God has implemented a real happiness strategy around us. Everything is done for us to be holy and therefore happy. The Holy Spirit gives us his gifts, Jesus gives us his life, the Father gives us his infinite mercy. Whoever we are, wherever we are, whether we cry, whether we are persecuted, whether we are hungry or thirsty, the Triune God surrounds us, accompanies us, precedes us, on one condition only: that we open our hearts to him, that we leave a place for him in our lives, and since it is a question of life, of eternal life, this place that we leave to God must be daily, regular… My beloved ones, see how it is great is the love with which the Father has showered us: he wanted us to be called children of God – and we are. Holiness is so simple: it is to let God act, to let us move, to be transformed by his Spirit, to let ourselves be loved by Jesus. Isn’t the Life of God beautiful?