Today's readings show the special place the poor and the just have in God's heart.

Jesus talks about many commonly shared experiences in which we can find ourselves blessed: when we're poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers, or persecuted.

HOW DO YOU get to holy from where you’re sitting? Is it a matter of saying enough prayers, going to church for years, not breaking the Commandments, being generous to the annual bishop’s appeal?

"Blessed are the peacemakers," scripture tells us. "The Lord loves the just; the Lord protects the stranger."

Sammy somehow found a way to not only avoid getting into arguments, he had a calming effect on us all--even us counselors.

The Beatitudes are the sum total of the meaning of salvation that Jesus came to share with us.

Some families make quilts out of remnants of torn and tattered clothes and blankets and other pieces of fabric from their ancestors.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Poor in spirit ourselves, we seek the Lord's mercy.

The Beatitudes in both gospels represent a powerful message of deliverance from suffering, both material and spiritual, and a call to embrace the way of humility and justice.

When Jesus and his disciples are said to be in the world but not of the world, the meaning is clear enough. Although they live in the world they are not worldly, they do not subscribe to the present values and standards of the world. --Albert Nolan, O.P.