Sermon On the Mount

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The key to understand the Sermon on the Mount is the way Jesus used two expressions:

1.          “You have heard”

2.          And the short, emphatic phrase, “But I say to you”

5:21 'You have heard it was said…: You must not kill;…

But I say to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it

5:27 'You have heard it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

5:33 You have heard it was said: You must not break your oath…

But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne;

5:43 'You have heard it was said: You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;

5:45 in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven,

When he said, “You have heard,”

·       Jesus recalls the 10 Commandments

·       The bare minimum – for Happiness

If you only want to be minimally happy

·       Obey the 10 Commandments

·       Don’t murder; Don’t commit adultery; Don’t steal; Don’t lie; Don’t covet your neighbor’s ox or ass – actually, I have never been tempted to covet my neighbor’s ox or ass. I been tempted to call them an…well, I think you get point…

If you long for the fullness of happiness then strive to live the virtues, to become virtuous

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How can I become virtuous, what is a practical strategy? The most simple, now I did not say easy, but the most simple and straightforward way to grow in virtue is a one-two punch of daily meditation and a resolution. Meditation is what we are doing in this Rosary.

Meditation is to turn your attention to God

·       To think about what He has said or done

·       In order to understand it, but understanding is not enough,

·       We want to love God for the things He has said and done

·       So that we will form firm resolutions that we will put into practice with the assistance of grace

So the first part of the strategy to grow in virtue in happiness is daily meditation

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The Second part of this one-two punch is the Resolution

A resolution is to choose some concrete and practical thing to remember from our meditation to put into practice that day.

Examples of a resolution are:

·       Instead of complaining about some suffering or difficulty I will accept it with trust and offer it up.

·       I will not gossip today

·       Each time I am anxious I will remind myself that I am safe. God has the matter in hand. There is nothing to fear.

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St Francis De Sales on the importance of a resolution:

The most important thing of all is that you cling firmly to the resolutions you have taken in meditation so as to practice them carefully.  That is the great fruit of meditation, without which it is often not only useless but harmful.  Why so?  Because the virtues upon which we have meditated but not practiced sometimes puff us up so much in mind and heart that we think we are already what we are resolved to be which no doubt is the case if our resolutions are solid and ardent.  But when, on the contrary, they are not practiced, they are useless and dangerous.  (Introduction to the Devout Life, II Chap 8)

There are two reasons people don’t make progress spiritually; they don’t meditate and they don’t practice a resolution. You are doing the first part but I bet not the second – not the resolution. 

If we want our Rosary meditation to bear fruit then we will choose a concrete and practical resolution flowing from each Rosary Meditation to put into practice each day.

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If you want to grow in virtue then we need this one-two punch of daily meditation and the practice of a resolution.

Every day read or listen to the Word of God, something from the life and teachings of Jesus handed down to us through Scripture, Tradition and the Teaching of the Church; then reflect on it, think about it, apply it to our lives and love God for these things. But this is not enough for Jesus said, “It is not those who say Lord, Lord, who enter the Kingdom of Heaven but those who do the will of my Father.” What good is it to meditate on the Word of God and not put it into practice. It is only by practicing what Jesus taught through a resolution that we can turn it into a good habit, a virtue. But if we don’t put it into practice, then we will never grow in virtue and never reach the happiness we long for.

What is your resolution today?