Choose a topic from Part 2A:
1. The beatitudes pronounced by our Lord in his sermon onthe Mount are acts rather than habits of the soul. Hence thebeatitudes differ from the virtues and from the gifts, all of whichare habits.
2. The rewards (the blessedness) promised in thebeatitudes are not exclusively for enjoyment in heaven; some ofthem at least may have a beginning in this present life. Forrewards that can be perfectly enjoyed in the perfect state of manin heaven, may, in some measure, be partially enjoyed in thepresent and imperfect state of man on earth.
3. The beatitudes are suitably enumerated in scripture.They seem to carry man from the things of sense, through the activelife, to contemplation. First, man is taught not to seek happinessin the things of sense-riches, honors, self-indulgence; he is to bepoor in spirit, meek, mourning. Next, man is directed towardshappiness in his activity with reference to his neighbor; he is tothirst after justice, he is to be merciful. Finally, man is toprepare for contemplation, for seeing God; he is to be clean ofheart, he is to be a peacemaker.
4. The rewards promised in the beatitudes-kingdom ofheaven, land (of the living), fullness of justice, mercy obtained,sight of God, full status as children of God-all these rewards areto be obtained perfectly in heaven; they are included inthe perfect happiness of heaven. It is suitable that these phasesof the perfect heavenly reward should be enumerated in thebeatitudes for our better understanding.
"It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to stick to it, and never to abandon it."
St Philip Neri
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"Obedience is a short cut to perfection."
St Philip Neri
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"When the devil has failed in making a man fall, he puts forward all his energies to create distrust between the penitent and the confessor, and so by little and little he gains his end at last."
St Philip Neri
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