Period of Purification

Living the Beatitudes: An Overview

62 How do we use the Beatitudes to examine our conscience?

The values of the Law of Christ are contained in the Beatitudes. These values are concerned with our relationship with God and with our fellow human beings. They are expressed in our "attitudes."

The right attitude to God is that of worship and attachment to him in suffering and penance (1st and 8th Beatitudes).

The right attitudes to our fellow human beings are those of our patience, our upholding of justice, our forgiveness, our chastity, and our peacemaking (2nd -7th Beatitudes).

Sin is a false attitude. We are judged by God on the attitudes we adopt. It is upon these attitudes, then, that we are to examine our conscience regularly and in the sacrament of Reconciliation. And it is in these attitudes that our conscience is to be formed, for they are always binding and are absolute.

When we began to summarize God's law through the Beatitudes we pointed out that "for many, the Beatitudes are a little vague. They don't seem to tell us exactly where we stand with God.'' So far, we have tried to show that the Beatitudes are far from vague; and they tell us exactly where we stand with God.

Of course, we have not been able to cover even a fraction of the material on the moral law written in the New Testament and over the centuries. We have not mentioned by name such sins as idolatry, blasphemy, masturbation, drunkenness, and so forth. But, primarily, it is because we considered it more important to provide the reasons why such sins are wrong.

A wrong attitude to suffering will a/ways lead to bitterness and anger; a wrong attitude to sex will always lead to sexual sin. To overcome such sins our minds must be informed with the attitudes of Christ. Then, there will be no question of sin. Sin will disappear.

What are my attitudes in my everyday living? We suggest an examination of conscience, based on Christ's eight Beatitudes:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit:

Do I recognize that the world is God's, not mine? Do I thank him for it? Do I express my thanks in my weekly worship? Does the world center around me?

2. Blessed are the meek:

Do I recognize that every person is created by God and equally loved by him? Does my behavior reflect this realization? Do I resent criticism? Do I take out my impatience on those who are weak and least likely to fight back ?

3. Blessed are they who mourn:

Do I recognize that every person is created as frail as myself and is as much in need of help and encouragement? Am I sensitive to the real needs of others? Do I realize the power of my words and actions to heal or to harm? Am I indifferent to the misfortune of others?

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice:

Do I recognize that all creation is for the good of every person and equally to be enjoyed by all? Do I steal from others the goods or the good name which belong to them? Am I lazy?

5. Blessed are the merciful:

Do I recognize that I am myself in need of mercy? Do I ever see goodness in others? Do I make hasty judgments? Am I grateful for the forgiveness I receive from others?

6. Blessed are the pure in heart:

Do I recognize that the heart will only rest when it is centered on God? Do I use others or try to possess them for my own satisfaction? Do I abuse the gift of sex to satisfy my own ego?

7. Blessed are the peacemakers:

Do I recognize the source of peace: the dignity God has given me in making me one of his adopted children? Do I enjoy making trouble for others? Am I the kind of person who needs to be humored?

8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake:

Do I recognize that it is in suffering that 1 enter most deeply into the mind of Christ' Do I ever do penance to make up for the damage caused by my sins? Do I resent suffering so that it becomes a barrier between myself and God?

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

THE BEATITUDES

How do you stand in relation to the Beatitudes?

Read Matthew 5:3-10. On each of the Beatitudes rank your life from 1 to 10 --- 1 being very weak and 10 being very strong. For instance, on the First Beatitude, you might circle number 8 because you know that you are far from perfect but that God accepts you anyway.

Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor!

Are you ready to admit to yourself and others that you don't have all the answers? that you have needs? that you need God and others" Are you able to let others know where you are spiritually poor so they can help?

Happy are those who mourn!

Are you sensitive enough to other people to help them when they are hurting? Are you able to show your feelings -- and to let others show their feelings without feeling like a sissy? Are you able to let others unload and to really enter into their pain?

Happy are the meek!

Are you the kind of person who will let the other person carry the ball? Are you quiet enough inside yourself to hear what God and others are saying? Are you mellow enough to lead by listening, allowing others to have their say?

Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires!

Is God number one in your life: Do you let Him call the plays? Do you know the difference between His will and your will? In the tough choice of your personal life do you honestly seek to put God first?

Happy are those who show mercy to others!

Are you a "caring" kind of person who warms up others' lives? are you quick to respond to need? Do you give without thought of getting something back? In short, are you a grace-giver -- like Christ?

Happy are the pure in heart!

Are you the same person in the world that your are in church? Are you free to let others know you? Are you open and honest, letting God show through? Are you wholesome in your attitudes?

Happy are those who work for peace among men!

Are you able to heal broken relationships through your care and understanding? Are you a bridge-builder (accepting others who differ with you? without giving up your own convictions? Do you bring harmony?

Happy are those who suffer persecution because they do what God requires!

Are you able to take criticism from those near you without reacting defensively? Are you willing to let others know you are a Christian even if it is unpopular? Can you "take the heat" and come back smiling?

What Is a Christian Moral Life?

"The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners.² (Catechism, 1846)

Jesus is just as interested in saving sinners as many of them are in being saved. He testifies to this in his parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (Lk 15). But once converted, there is still a lifetime of Christian moral living ahead. What does this entail?

1. The moral life is always a response to God's love. When Jesus forgave the sins of the woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee, he told the guests, "her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love" (Lk 7:47). Covenant love grounds morality.

2. Resolve to do God's will. Where is God's will found? In four pillars of fire: the natural law, the revealed commandments, the teachings of Christ, and the direction of a Spirit-guided Church. In our sinful condition there is ambiguity, complexity, and darkness. But the light of God's will shines in this darkness through the four graced pillars of fire. We use these to form our consciences. In addition, the light of our reason (itself a gift of God) has three wonderful revelation-partners in the commandments, the Gospels, and the Magisterium of the Church.

3. Admit the existence of sin. Sin abounds here. Think of the holocaust, ethnic cleansing, pervasive poverty and injustice, cheating, lieing, stealing, and abuse of children. Sin is the conscious and deliberate refusal to do God's will. Sin rejects God's friendship. Sin refuses love of God, others, and self. Sin is evil and self-destructive. It abandons moral responsibility. We must repent of our sins and have a lifelong conversion.

4. Emphasize the power of grace and the call to holiness. Sin is obviously powerful. Christ's grace is stronger. "Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more" (Rom 5:20). Be convinced that the positive power of grace will far outweigh the drag of sin. Grace is just as real as sin and far more powerful.

5. Practice lifelong moral conversion. Jesus, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul insistently call for repentance of sins, moral change, and lifelong conversion. This is one of Revelation's strongest messages. Christian morality is not easy, but we have the love-power of the Holy Spirit to make it possible. In our self-fulfillment culture, Christian morality calls for self-sacrifice. Jesus said that discipleship means: Lose the self. Take the cross. Follow me.

The lives of saints and other outstanding Christians remind us of this. Their moral witness inspires us to have confidence that Christian morality is possible even in the most hostile of cultures. They help us turn away from sin and darkness and put to death our tendencies to pride, lust, selfishness, and hatred. This brings the Paschal mystery into practical terms. We experience that mystery in the sacraments, but we must witness it in our daily lives.

Grace conquers our sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the reconciliation room, the principles outlined here come together. Divine light shines in the "Peace Room." Empowered by the Spirit, we embark again on our lifelong moral conversion.

QUIZ

64 What is Confession

1. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is divided into four parts:

a. Examination of conscience, confession, penance & celebration

b. Contrition, confession, satisfaction, & absolution

c. Penance, reconciliation, confession and change of heart

d. Baptism, Anointing, Penance and Communion

2. Contrition is how we arrange our lives in accordance to the mind of our conscience.

a. True

b. False

c. Only for people who have gone to confession

3. In the first centuries of the Church which sins could only be forgiven by the Bishop:

a. Tax evasion, swindling and dishonesty

b. Impure thoughts, words and actions

c. Apostasy, murder. and adultery

d. Pederasty, simony and sacrilege

4. After rigorous penance, the penitent would be received back publicly on :

a. Holy Thursday

b. Good Friday

c. Easter Sunday

d. Ascension Thursday

5. This form of reconciliation could be performed:

a. Once in a lifetime

b. Once during Lent

c. Only after Lent

d. Only if baptism was doubtful

6. How did the early church, following St. Paul's teaching in 1 Cor 5:5, deal with a person guilty of serious public sin?

a. Disfellowshiping his family

b. Imprisonment after trial by the Inquisition

c. Excommunication

d. Forgetting and forgiving

7. Our need for assurance of forgiveness and to be reunited with the offended community, means we should:

a. Keep our lives private.

b. Move on without feeling guilty

c. Confess our sins

d. Just keep our self-esteem high.

8. We confess to another human being because:

a. It is God who forgives through His church

b. The shame prevents us from sinning again.

c. We'll never know what our sins are if we are not forced to confess them

d. It tells us to do so in the Didache

VOCABULARY

1. What is encompassed by the moral law?

The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil.

The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments.

The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel.

The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed (Catechism, #1954, 1962,1964,1965).

2. What is sin?

Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor.... It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (Catechism, #1849; see also 1846-1876).

3. What is grace?

The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us the "righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism (Rom 3:22).

Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life (Catechism 1987, 1996; see also 1987-2005).

DAILY PRAYER

Beatitudes - Reflection Form

What Beatitudes are especially meaningful to you right now? Below are a series of statements adapted from the Beatitudes. Rank them 1, 2, 3, etc., in order of their importance to you.

_____ God accepts me as I am. I don't have to have it all together.

_____ Jesus wept. Feelings are a part of life. It is OK to cry.

_____ Gentleness is a mark of strength. A person who is really strong does not have to prove it.

_____ God made us for His fellowship. The soul of man will be restless until it finds it's rest in God.

_____ God showed His love for us by giving His life. We show our love for God by giving our lives for others.

_____ God made Himself know through Christ. Christ makes Himself known through us.

_____ Christ is the bridge over troubled waters for us. We are the bridge over troubled waters for our world.

_____ Obedience to God cost Him his life. His followers were asked to follow in His footsteps.

Now let's go through the Beatitudes one by one.

Click here: First Beatitude