A Blessedness Recipe

The world claims that religion is a burden that will bog you down in rules, rituals, and responsibilities that will make you miserable, that will enslave you to some evil monstrous church, and that will take your freedom away. It is a view that reduces the Gospel message to a list of dos and don’ts that you must follow or you will be condemned and punished. It reduces the Gospel to power and control. The world thinks that the Christian must simply submit himself to a great miserable burden. 

As Christ delivered his sermon on the Mount he proposed a very different message. The Gospel he proclaimed was not about laws and rules that restrict freedom and bring about misery. Rather Christ gave us a recipe for how to live a life that leads to true blessedness, true saintliness, and true happiness. Following the Gospel message does not lead to misery, it leads to happiness and fulfillment. God loves us, so he desires for us to be happy. God has given us the directions for how to attain happiness, and he gives us the assistance we need to actually attain it by his grace which is given to us especially through the sacraments. 

This recipe for happiness is surprising and shocking in many ways, and it is just as counter-cultural today as it was the day Christ gave it. The world exalts the aggressive or assertive person, while Christ exalts the meek and gentle. The world often refuses to forgive when someone has erred, while Christ holds up the merciful. The world focuses on the rich, wealthy, and famous, while Christ focuses on the lowly, the humble of heart, and the poor of spirit. 

Living out the Gospel message will never make you the popular kid nor will it win you esteem in the eyes of the world, however it will draw you close to God who is the source of all our happiness. I should note that this blessedness, this happiness, is not a fleeting pleasure or good feeling. It is something much greater. It is the very fulfillment of who we are. This will only be fully experienced in heaven, however we experience a taste of it here on earth. We receive a foretaste of what is to come. Happiness does not mean we will not experience difficulties, pain, or even suffering but it means that all those things will be turned and directed to our fulfillment in heaven. 

The reality of this message is shown in the passion and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Death is normally a place of sadness. The tomb is a place of despair. But when Christ enters in, he paradoxically turns it into a place of love and great hope. 

The beatitudes are a summary of this blessedness recipe, this happiness recipe. These eight beatitudes have been given to us by Christ as the law of the New covenant. These are made clearer by the seven virtues, which Christian tradition has given us as a way of understanding how to live a good holy life. The virtues of justice, temperance, fortitude, prudence, faith, hope, and love. However, all these things are still missing something. By themselves they just become a human self improvement project that we try to accomplish on our own. 

The missing piece is Christ himself who is given to us as food in the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us, so that we can live out this happiness recipe and put it into practice. In the Eucharist is Christ himself who is the source of all our joy. At the very center of the gospel and the Christian life is not another commandment or admonition, rather it is a person who cares very deeply for us and who wants us to draw close. The very person of Christ given to us in the sacraments is the key piece of the Gospel's recipe for blessedness and happiness. 

The Gospel message is not some miserable burden that is heaped upon our backs. The authentic Gospel is the recipe for how to attain true blessedness, true happiness, true fulfillment. When we follow it we ascend the mountain into the loving embrace of God. 

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:

The Beatitudes
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
- Matthew 5:1-11