BEATITUDES: Attitudes to a good life!

Riva Riguera, Sr-D

In my life, I’ve met a lot of people and it is impossible to say that I was never hurt by at least one of them. Some have hurt me physically while others have hurt me emotionally. Some, a little; others, a lot. Some, intentionally; others, inadvertently.  However, even if I end up getting hurt and being in pain, I noticed that I always make it a point to forgive, and one beatitude reminded me of why I should continue on doing so. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” We must make it a point to always forgive. It is because everyone always deserves another chance. We are people, we are imperfect, and we do make mistakes. However, as people, we are also compassionate. We must always have the heart to understand and forgive. Besides, holding a grudge never helps anyone. Therefore, we must always be able to forgive those who have been wrong, including ourselves.

The beatitudes, including the one I have chosen, constantly guide us toward our calling. Reaching our calling or vocation is very important. It is because as we reach certain levels of our vocations, our lives also take on a deeper meaning. Instead of being held down by such vocations, we are given the freedom to realize our mission in life and the chance to achieve it. This leads to the sanctity of our whole being, and us becoming saints. The beatitude I’ve chosen is of great help towards our goal because it helps us to forgive and forget wrongdoings and accept limits and possibilities. By becoming merciful, we learn to accept reality and realize that we can make things change for the better.

Every time I am faced with temptations and evil, the beatitudes always remind me of what I should do. When someone has hurt me, I must not begrudge. Instead, I must forgive. When conflicts arise, I must not take sides. Instead, I must try to resolve it peacefully. When the truth is concealed, I must not just leave it as is. Instead, I must fight for it, even if there may be consequences. There are many situations I’ve been through that have been affected by the beatitudes that I am not even able to pinpoint specific ones. All I know is that these continue on guiding me towards my calling of living rightfully in the eyes of God.

In a world where liars are powerful and the just are tormented, it becomes hard to follow this beatitude: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” However, even if it is difficult, I believe that it is still possible to become just. It is still possible to fight for what is right because of one thing we all have in common: conscience. Lying to others may seem easy, but lying to yourself isn’t. Being conscious of what we’ve done keep us from doing what is wrong. By keeping mind of our conscience, I believe that the hardships in following this beatitude may be overcome after all.

If every living being followed these beatitudes, I believe that our world would be a much better place to live in. Everyone will be just, fair, right, good, forgiving, humble, and obedient. People may still possibly and accidentally commit mistakes, but everyone will be able to understand and accept. There would be no misunderstandings, no fights, no wars, no killings, and no grudges. Through living by following the beatitudes, we may all live together in peace and help each other achieve our vocations.