“Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.”

“Blessed are you who are poor,

for the kingdom of God is yours.

Blessed are you who are now hungry,

for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who are now weeping,

for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you,

and when they exclude and insult you,

and denounce your name as evil

on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!

Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.”

The Beatitudes are an invitation to place Christ first in our life and follow His ways so as to better experience the joy of the Gospel and use the things of this world for His glory, such as using wealth, power, popularity, influence, or success to build up what is good, beautiful and holy. 

The Lord invites us to encounter Him and experience Heaven here on Earth. Jesus reminds us that God’s ways are not the ways of this world, so we are not called to be troubled or discouraged when others mock us or persecute us, but instead, we are invited to rejoice in our trials and difficulties, for we know God can use all things to His greater glory. When we experience difficult times, Jesus wants us to not grow hard-hearted during these trials but rather serve as a witness to Christ and love them.

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in Heaven.”The word “blessed” means truly happy, filled with joy, and knowing God blesses you. The Sermon on the Mount is a path to not only growing closer to Christ but living out our Catholic faith and experiencing Christian joy despite what is going on around us.

The Beatitudes remind us that we live for Heaven and Heaven’s reward, not an earthly reward. In an age where we want “instant success and reward,” it is essential to cling to the Beatitudes and make sure that we seek to encounter the Lord and follow His ways.

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