Peace to you!
Beatitude, understood properly as a term, means the state of complete blessedness or happiness. The beatific vision is to be in the full possession of the only truly perfect good, which is God. There are 8 supernatural actions that the Lord enumerates in the Sermon on the Mount, the last of which is indicated twice to emphasize its excellence. Simply stated, the beatitudes are the crowning achievements in the Christian life on earth. They are acts of virtue (moral excellence) that have been perfected to the highest possible degree by the person who has become habitually docile to the Holy Spirit. It almost goes without saying that while humility, meekness, desire for justice, chastity, compassion, mercy, charity, working for peace no matter the cost are acts of virtue, they also manifest the real presence of special, God given gifts in the person. A beatific or happy life is the result of using these supernatural gifts in a manner guided by the Holy Spirit. All of us desire fulfillment and happiness at the deepest level within. As Christians, we regard Jesus as the revealer and teacher of truth. Jesus teaches us the truth about the human person and about God. Through the beatitudes, he reveals that the way to true happiness consists in a life of virtue in communion with God in the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t have to struggle with sin while we are in the world, but it does mean that we can experience the blessedness of the kingdom! May God guide you into the way of peace! +++ Fr. Peter