The disciples were startled, if not bewildered, as Jesus began his teaching. These teachings cut across the ethic of their day. The translation read in today's Gospel lesson uses the word 'happy' instead of 'blessed'. To so do gives the Beatitudes a whole new meaning yet raises some troubling questions. Happiness has to do with being rich and famous.
Happiness means being well-fed and feeling good.
Happiness is getting your own way. Happiness is playing it safe and compromising. We all want to be happy. So much so that many philosophers over the centuries have held that happiness is the summum bonum, that is, the highest good in life. The Beatitudes are not so much a recipe for happiness or blessedness as they are a description of the Christian life.