)Fulfilled/Elevated by
New Testament Beatitudes (Love
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In the Ten Commandments it was Moses the Prophet who received the Decalogue from Yahweh. Remember the Thunder, the Lightening, the Celestial Phenomena put on by God to impress the Jewish people of what was happening on the Mountain between Moses and Yahweh. |
The Beatitudes however were given by no Prophet. They were given by God Himself Who became Man. There was no human person as intermediary. It was God Himself Who gave us the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes were given to the Human Race which was about to be Redeemed by the Passion and Death of Christ. |
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Old Testament |
New Testament |
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Book of |
Book of |
The Sermon on the Mount - |
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Chapter 20 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6 |
Chapter 7 |
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Teaching About Prayer
The Our Father
Treasure in Heaven
Dependence on God
et al
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The Golden Rule
The Narrow Gate
False Prophets
The True Disciple
et al
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The Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer are Divinely Revealed Manifestations of the Will of God. Like the Commandments, the Beatitudes are not an Option, They are a Divinely Ordained Obligation. Jesus suffered and died on the Cross to merit for us the Grace to live/mirror the Beatitudes, as He lived/mirrored them. For us to Reject that Copious Grace, invites Hell. |
To be noted is that Christ gave the Beatitudes to His Own Disciples selectively. They in turn, having received the Beatitudes, were to teach them to others. This is exactly what Yahweh did on Mount Sinai. He chose Moses, the Leader of the Chosen People, who in-turn was to give the Tablets of the Law to the Jews. By their Nature the Beatitudes are oriented toward Practice; They call for Imitation, They accentuate the Work of Man. There is the danger that we will become discouraged in experiencing an incapacity to put Them to Practice in our own lives, and by the great distance between the Ideal and the Practice. Consequently, Graces from the Holy Spirit are absolutely necessary for our living the Beatitudes as Jesus lived Them. These Graces are Copious, as depicted below. Copiosa apud eum Redemptio (With Him There is Copious Redemption - Psalm 130:7).
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The dynamic President of Gonzaga University, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., enumerates the
Five (5) Petitions contained within the Lord’s Prayer
as the Model Prayer form. He details the Beatitudes as means of mirroring/living-out the
intentions of the Lord's Prayer;
reveals the empathy Christians are to offer to those in need as followers of
Christ attempting to love as He loves; and relates that Christians are to mirror
the Merciful Heart of Christ, Who forgave and loved His enemies, performed Works
of Mercy, promoted Peace and worked for Reconciliation among those divided by
discord or error.
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The Sermon on the Mount spans |
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Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6 |
Chapter 7 |
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Teaching About Prayer
The Our Father
Treasure in Heaven
Dependence on God
et al
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The Golden Rule
The Narrow Gate
False Prophets
The True Disciple
et al
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Notâre Bene: This long Sermon on the
Mount, spanning Three (3) Chapters of Matthew's Gospel, is the First of Jesus’ Sermons that we hear, and it stands as a
Summary of nearly everything else Jesus will Preach. He will Amplify the Message with Parables and other Examples, but He
will Never-Change the Message He Preaches here.
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