November 2026, No. 229
October 2026, No. 228
September 2026, No. 227
Who are the Heralds of the Gospel?
Help of Christians
Christmas Carols
Anyone who has a project to complete and sets out to realize it always holds a certain idea of the final result. During the process, the creator constantly checks to ensure that the work is drawing closer to that original intention.
Eternal Wisdom could not fail to follow this rule of practical wisdom when creating us with the goal of our full sanctification. But in what does consummate holiness consist?
In heavenly beatitude, which is attained precisely through the eight Beatitudes proclaimed on this Solemnity.
The moment we are born, God, as it were, gives us a “sketch” of a marvellous picture, which is to be completed throughout our lives – or even after they have ended, in Purgatory – until it is perfected.
Whoever, at the hour of death, presents a fully completed painting is declared “blessed” – in eight respects – by the Divine Judge.
For example, the pure of heart will attain a crystal-clear vision of God – a promise He fulfils in eternal life, yet one that begins in this life.
As St. Thomas explains, “these rewards of which the Lord speaks here can be obtained in two ways: perfectly and consummately and thus only in the final homeland – in patria; or incipiently and imperfectly and thus by those who are on the way – in via.
Therefore, the saints possess a certain beginning of that Beatitude.”1
Those who do not attain the level of this specific beatitude will not possess an elevated “degree of vision,” in accordance with the lumen gloriæ. In the Father’s house there are many dwelling places: some will see more perfectly, others less so.
As St. Bonaventure explains,2 our nature is deformed by sin but reformed by grace; thus, we must purify it in order to ascend to God.
The same principle applies to the other Beatitudes. Those who mourn – Jesus refers here to those who suffer affliction for the love of God, that is, those who are distressed to see Him offended or not loved as He deserves – will be comforted, in this life and the next, by an unshakeable confidence.
Their hearts “rest in God.” Nothing disturbs them, for, as St. Augustine affirms, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”3
Thus, the Gospel of the Beatitudes encourages us to implore God, echoing the Psalmist: “The Lord will fulfil His purpose for me” (Ps 138:8) and “take me not hence in the midst of my days” (Ps 102:24).
This is the petition we must make to the Divine Holy Spirit throughout our lives, through the intercession of Our Lady.
Such is the reality: in His infinite goodness, the Creator offers us the gift of His grace at every moment, thereby being the true Author of our sanctification.
The spiritual “work of art” that we must complete before being called to give an account is as much His work as it is ours. It falls to us, simply, to let the Divine Painter use the “brush” of our soul according to His most holy will.
