Where do we begin, if we want to search for information about the sort of outlook and behavior which will please Christ and which is appropriate for 'God's children'?
No Christian who has read the Holy Scriptures, or books of meditation, can have failed to come across a list of the 'Beatitudes'. These precepts of Christ, which are found as slightly different versions in two of the Gospels, are widely admired both inside and outside the Church, as providing a picture of blessedness which cannot be improved upon. In St. Matthew's Gospel we read:
HOW HAPPY ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT;
THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
HAPPY THE GENTLE:
THEY SHALL HAVE THE EARTH FOR THEIR HERITAGE.
HAPPY THOSE WHO MOURN:
THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.
HAPPY THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR WHAT IS RIGHT:
THEY SHALL BE SATISFIED.
HAPPY THE MERCIFUL:
THEY SHALL HAVE MERCY SHOWN THEM.
HAPPY THE PURE IN HEART:
THEY SHALL SEE GOD.
HAPPY THE PEACEMAKERS:
THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF GOD.
HAPPY THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED IN THE CAUSE OF RIGHT:
THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.-Mt 5:3-10These precepts, with the whole of the 'Sermon on the Mount,' are sublime. Isn't it astonishing that God Himself - the Incarnate Son of God, Christ - has been loving and humble enough to come and meet with frail human beings, to explain what sort of lives are most admirable and worthwhile?
Yet there are people who imagine that in giving us those precepts Christ meant to provide a substitute for the Law which, in earlier times, had been given from Heaven to the Chosen People (Ex 20:1-21). Some people urge us to sweep away a clear moral code about what we should and shouldn't think, do and say, and to substitute for it merely a perpetually-affectionate attitude towards Mankind, with no norms of restraint on certain types of behavior, nor any practical duties to be undertaken which aren't directly mentioned in Christ's list. Christ Himself told us on that same occasion, however, that how we do or don't behave has tremendous significance. Christ said:
YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A CITY BUILT ON A HILL-TOP CANNOT BE HIDDEN. NO ONE LIGHTS A LAMP TO PUT IT UNDER THE TUB; THEY PUT IT ON THE LAMP-STAND WHERE IT SHINES FOR EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE. IN THE SAME WAY YOUR LIGHT MUST SHINE IN THE SIGHT OF MEN, SO THAT, SEEING YOUR GOOD WORKS, THEY MAY GIVE THE PRAISE TO YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.-MT 5:13-16Then He added:
DO NOT IMAGINE THAT I HAVE COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS. I HAVE COME NOT TO ABOLISH BUT TO COMPLETE THEM. I TELL YOU SOLEMNLY, TILL HEAVEN AND EARTH DISAPPEAR, NOT ONE DOT, NOT ONE LITTLE STROKE, SHALL DISAPPEAR FROM THE LAW UNTIL ITS PURPOSE IS ACHIEVED. THEREFORE, THE MAN WHO INFRINGES EVEN ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE COMMANDMENTS AND TEACHES OTHERS TO DO THE SAME WILL BE CONSIDERED THE LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; BUT THE MAN WHO KEEPS THEM AND TEACHES THEM WILL BE CONSIDERED GREAT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.-Mt 5:17-19It seems obvious that if we want to please Christ, we'll want to know about His Commandments in detail, so that we "KEEP" and "TEACH" nothing misguided, sinful or dangerous, but only what is good and fruitful in Christ's sight; and it's through the teaching authority of The Holy Church today that we can find sure guidance on every important issue.
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