In our prepartion for Lent, we journeyed up various mountains to begin to hear the words of Jesus, and witness his Transfiguration. As we began to cultivate the Spiritual Humility to ready ourselves for the Lenten Mountaintop Blessings of the Beatitudes, we opened our minds and our hearts during the first three weeks of February.
This Season of Lent, instead of going into the Wilderness with Jesus, we journey up to the Mountaintop to sit at the feet of Jesus and partake of his wisdom in what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” This was not a sermon to the masses. Jesus and his closest companions left the masses and gathered in an intimate setting for profound wisdom. This season we are invited into that intimate circle each week.
During the hardship and oppression of Roman occupation, Jesus introduced the Beatitudes as a new way of living—focused on humility, solace, mercy, forgiveness, Justice, righteousness and prepare ourselves to be cross-bearers with Jesus. If the Old Testament Commandments show us the “do nots,” the Beatitudes teach us what to “do” to follow God’s will and embrace God’s grace.
The Beatitudes are often treated as a set of teachings—to be studied, analyzed, or moralized. But for the early Church, they were also something more: a rhythm of prayer, a guide for worship, and a path for spiritual formation.
