The Fifth Door: Mercy “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Scripture Focus Matthew 5:7 Exposition In Matthew’s ordering of the Beatitudes, mercy occupies a pivotal place. Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri observe that this beatitude follows immediately upon the hunger and thirst for righteousness, indicating a movement from interior desire…
The Fourth Door: Hungering for What Is True Beatitude “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 Exposition As we step through the fourth door of the Kingdom, the language of the Beatitudes turns decisively toward desire. Poverty of spirit named our dependence. Mourning taught us how…
The Third Door Blessed are the meek: strong hearts formed by humility Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is often misunderstood. It is not weakness or passivity. In the Gospel, meekness is strength that comes from humility and trust in God. Jacques Philippe explains that meekness grows directly…
Second Door Blessed are those who mourn: the door where God Himself comes close Today we walk through the second door. Jesus says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be consoled. At first hearing, this Beatitude sounds like a contradiction. How can mourning possibly be called blessed Jacques Philippe helps us by saying…
Why the Beatitudes, and Why Now? We begin this series in the light of Lent. Every Lent the Church gives us time in the desert so that one question can come to the surface again: How am I to live as a Christian today. Not only what should I give up, but what does my…
X. Final Section Suffering, Transformation, and the Call to Contemplative Union One of the deepest harmonies between David Torkington and the contemporary masters of the spiritual life is their shared conviction that suffering, far from being an interruption to the Christian journey, is the place where God prepares the heart for contemplative union. Torkington teaches…