CL - Lesson 7 (We Hope in God)

• Hope is the theological value. The source of a theological virtue is God. It is the fruit of grace
• the virtue of hope has four major characteristics: (1) good, (2) future, (3) hard to get, (4) possible to get.
• Matthew prefers the term Kingdom of heaven. Mark prefers the kingdom of God.
• The first beatitude promises the Kingdom of heaven. The eighth and last beatitude likewise, promises the Kingdom of Heaven
• There is a concept in the Bible that is called biblical inclusion
• Thus, What the second to the seventh beatitude promise are aspects of the Kingdom of heaven.
• beatitude comes from the latin word beatus, which means happy fortunate, or blessed
• Beatitudes are teachings or solemn blessings by Jesus that respond to the desire for happiness which God has placed in the human heart.
• Beatitudes are paradoxical. A paradox is something that goes against common opinion and even common sense but is most probably true
• The poor in spirit are what the Bible calls anawim. This word means the poor of the Lord. They are people who cannot boast of anything good they posses
• First beatitude is “Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit”
• The second beatitude presents the disciples hope for comfort during mourning
• second beatitude is “Fortunate are those who mourn they shall be comforted”
• third beatitude is “Fortunate are the gentle they shall posses the land”
• Food and drink are the most basic of all the necessities of life. The fourth beatitude concerns the most basic need of the disciple — justice
• Justice is not just the will to give hat is due to everyone. In the Bible, it refers to righteousness — and righteousness concerns fidelity to the covenant with God,
• fourth beatitude is “Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice”
• Mercy is all about compassion. Compassion comes from two latin words: cum (with) + pati (to suffer). It is the ability to suffer together with someone, to gell the pain which he or she feels
• fifth beatitude is ”Fortunate are the merciful”
• The pure of heart are those who are single hearted and whose lives are exclusively directed towards God
• sixth beatitude is “Fortunate are those with pure heart”
• peace is a key biblical concept. The greek word for peace is eirine; the hebrew word for peace is shalom. Both mean fullness , completeness or wholeness
• seventh beatitude is “fortunate are those who work for peace”
• The last beatitude is about the opposition to the members of the Kingdom of heaven. Three types of opposition are: insult, persecution and evil talk or calumny
• Excessive hope is called presumption. What we hope for is primarily salvation
• Defective hope is called despair. We sin by despair when we are truly convinced that salvation has become impossible for us
• eighth beatitude “Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice”