Beatitudes for the world of today
At the end of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis challenged us with a version of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) for today.
The ‘new’ Beatitudes affirm what we try to do as Christians. And they challenge the way we sometimes treat our sisters and brothers around the world.
They make for a good, regular reflection on how we are living out our baptismal call to be missionaries, whatever our vocation. As Pope Francis often reminds us,‘to be a Christian and to be a missionary are the same thing’.
‘See God in every person’
One of the Beatitudes which Pope Francis shared in his homily for the Solemnity of All Saints provides a vision for all missionaries: ‘Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him’.
It’s a beautiful phrase to live by in our daily lives.
Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.
Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness.
Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.
Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.
Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.
Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.