The Beatitudes, Magna Carta of Evangelical Citizenship

70. On Mount Sinai he Covenant between God and His people was sealed by a series of promises and blessings and curses (cf Ex 23, 20-33). On the mountain of Galilee, Jesus outlined the identity of the citizens of the Kingdom in the form of congratulations: the Beatitudes. They open the Sermon on the Mount which contains the summary of the evangelical message.

The Beatitudes: ideal of evangelical life

71. The Beatitudes are not codified precepts, or static norms, but rather they present in a beautiful way the ideal of evangelical life, they inspire lofty proposals, they spur on to sublime goals, they invite us to scale the heights with enthusiasm. The Beatitudes do not define that which is just and dutiful, but that which pleases the Lord, that which is in conformity to His heart and His desires that which constitutes the joy of God and the happiness of humankind. The virtues are not praised in abstract, but are congratulated in persons: the poor, the pure, the afflicted, etc. Here we find not only the profile of an ideal disciple of Jesus, of the exemplary model of evangelical citizenship, but also that which appears above all else - the face of Jesus Himself.

Response to the thirst for God and for happiness

72. To those who live evangelical citizenship in following Him, Jesus promises the citizenship of the Kingdom of heaven (cf Mt 5:3-10); they will be comforted and filled (cf 5: 4,6); they will find mercy (cf 5:7); they will inherit the earth as the vital space given by the Father to His children (cf 5:5); they will truly be children of God (cf 5:9); and they will contemplate His face (cf 5:8). All of this forever constitutes the yearning of humanity. Even today, although suffocated by diverse interests and silenced by distracting noises, this yearning creeps into the heart and searches.  The results are not always the most correct, but they are nevertheless efforts toward overcoming indifference, egotistical closedness and nonsense.

In fact, through listening to our reality, we have heard the appeal for a profound experience for God and for prayer both in our life as women consecrated totally to Him, and in the mission that characterizes us as educating communities.

It is the tension toward this fulfillment promised but not fulfilled that puts us into a dynamic of on-going discernment, vigilant waiting, and continual journeying.

For an evangelical citizenship

73.  In indicating the goal of Christian life, the beatitudes also point out the journey to reach it. They present the radical transformation demanded by evangelical citizenship: to be poor in spirit, to learn how to bear one’s own limitations and the precarious situation of the world, to be meek, merciful, pure of heart, builders of peace, to thirst and hunger for justice and to be ready to suffer for the sake of justice.

In the logic of the Kingdom

74. Jesus proclaims the disadvantaged blessed. These words have an unequaled subversive power. They overturn the logic and the hierarchy of the world’s values. In addition to the Christological dimension and in as much as they reveal the face of Christ, the beatitudes have a unique theological meaning: they manifest who God is and what His dream for humanity is. Moreover, they have an anthropologic importance because they reveal the physiognomy of a fulfilled human person, of a daughter resembling the Father. They also constitute a theological foundation because they show the features of the community of sons and daughters who live in reciprocal communion. The eschatological dimension emerges clearly because the beatitudes are both a gift and a commitment, present reality and future promise, criterion of God’s judgment at the end of history.

Lived by Mary

75. The Marian dimension is particularly significant for us. In the beatitudes proclaimed by the Son, we see clearly the countenance of the mother, the face that resembles Him most. As the perfect disciple of Jesus, Mary incarnates the evangelical beatitudes in an exemplary way. She recognizes her blessedness and, in turn, becomes praise and thanksgiving to God for all generations in the song of the Magnificat, because God had done great things for her, His humble handmaid. Mary experiences in her being and witnesses to others the radical transformation worked by God in history and in the world beginning from the poor and the little ones.

And from our Founders

76. Following in the footsteps of Mary, Don Bosco, Maria Domenica and many of our Sisters have lived the evangelical beatitudes and have become unmistakable signs of the logic of God which is contrary to the logic of the world.

Recognizing the primacy of God

77. The beatitudes, even through diverse perspectives, proclaim the adherence of the human person to the providential intervention of God. She recognizes the lordship of God, convinced that she is not the autonomous principle of her own salvation and hope, she renounces the organization of her own existence according to selfish criteria and schemes and places all her trust in God. She fixes her eyes on God with a poor and pure heart, ready to be formed by new tensions, by projects in keeping with God’s will. Consequently, she seeks to imitate the tenderness and infinite love of the Father in her relationships with others. She is meek and affable, radiates peace and serenity, knows how to forgive, is merciful and promotes reconciliation. At the same time, she lives and works for God’s kingdom, desiring only the realization of His project for a more humane and just world. 

The three paths singled out in the journey of preparation for GCXXI - the question of a renewed experience of God, of communion and education - find their foundation in the evangelical beatitudes.