Office Of Readings | Week 23, Sunday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Sermon Of Pope Saint Leo The Great On The Beatitudes | Christian Wisdom

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Office Of Readings | Week 23, Sunday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Sermon Of Pope Saint Leo The Great On The Beatitudes | Christian Wisdom

‘Christian wisdom.’

Pope Saint Leo the Great moves from Christ’s blessing on the meek to those beatitudes pronounced on those who ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ (Matthew 5:6), the merciful (v.7), and the pure of heart (v.8). His reflection reveals the interconnectedness of these dispositions, which together form a path of Christian wisdom.

The imagery of hunger and thirst is reinterpreted in spiritual terms. These are not bodily appetites but signs of the soul’s longing for righteousness, which Leo defines as nothing less than the desire for God himself. He draws on Psalm 34(33):9 – ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ – to describe how the soul, once it has experienced God’s goodness, is set aflame with love. The person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness has already received a foretaste of divine life and now desires its fullness. In this way, Leo links the beatitude to the great commandment: to love God wholly is to desire righteousness.

Leo then notes the inseparability of love of God and love of neighbour. Just as the command to love one’s neighbour follows the command to love God (Mark 12:29–31), so too mercy follows righteousness in the beatitudes: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ Mercy, in Leo’s account, is not an optional virtue but one that mirrors God himself: ‘Mercy itself wishes you to be merciful, righteousness itself wishes you to be righteous.’ Human beings, created in the image of God, are called to reflect the Creator’s qualities in their actions.

From here, Leo moves naturally to the beatitude of the pure of heart. Almsgiving and merciful action are described as means of purification, preparing the way for the ultimate promise: ‘they shall see God.’ This vision of God, which has been denied to human beings in their present state (cf. Exodus 33:20; John 1:18), will be granted when human nature is transformed in resurrection. Leo echoes Paul’s contrast between seeing God ‘in a mirror, dimly’ and seeing him ‘face to face’ (1 Corinthians 13:12). The final reward is the beatific vision, described in terms of 1 Corinthians 2:9: what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived.

Leo describes the beatitudes as coherent spiritual ascent: the soul desires God in righteousness, expresses that desire in mercy, and is made fit for the vision of God in purity of heart. The Beatitudes are not isolated blessings but a map of the Christian life, culminating in eternal communion with God.

A Reading From The Sermon Of Pope Saint Leo The Great On The Beatitudes | Christian Wisdom

The Lord then goes on to say: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. This hunger is not for bodily food, this thirst is not for any earthly drink: it is a longing to be blessed with righteousness, and, by penetrating the secret of all mysteries, to be filled with the Lord himself.

Happy is the soul that longs for the food of righteousness and thirsts for this kind of drink; it would not seek such things if it had not already savoured their delight. When the soul hears the voice of the Spirit saying to it through the prophet: Taste and see that the Lord is good, it has already received a portion of God’s goodness, and is on fire with love, the love that gives joy of the utmost purity. It counts as nothing all that belongs to time; it is entirely consumed with desire to eat and drink the food of righteousness. The soul lays hold of the true meaning of the first and great commandment: You shall love the Lord God with your whole heart, and your whole mind and your whole strength, for to love God is nothing else than to love righteousness.

Finally, just as concern for one’s neighbour is added to love of God, so the virtue of mercy is added to the desire for righteousness, as it is said: Blessed are the merciful, for God will be merciful to them.

Remember, Christian, the surpassing worth of the wisdom that is yours. Bear in mind the kind of school in which you are to learn your skills, the rewards to which you are called. Mercy itself wishes you to be merciful, righteousness itself wishes you to be righteous, so that the Creator may shine forth in his creature, and the image of God be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it imitates his qualities. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours for ever.

Since it is by giving alms that everything is pure for you, you will also receive that blessing which is promised next by the Lord: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Dear friends, great is the happiness of those for whom such a reward is prepared. Who are the clean of heart if not those who strive for those virtues we have mentioned above? What mind can conceive, what words can express the great happiness of seeing God? Yet human nature will achieve this when it has been transformed so that it sees the Godhead no longer in a mirror or obscurely but face to face – the Godhead that no man has been able to see. In the inexpressible joy of this eternal vision, human nature will possess what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man’s heart has never conceived.

Christian Prayer With Jesus Christ

Lord God,
you awaken in us hunger and thirst for righteousness,
and you promise fullness to those who seek you.
Grant us mercy,
that we may be merciful to others,
and purify our hearts,
that we may be made worthy to see you face to face.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Glossary Of Christian Terms

Beatitudes – The blessings given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–12), describing the character of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven.

Righteousness – In this context, not merely ethical conduct, but the fullness of life in God, reflecting his will and his justice.

Mercy – Compassion expressed in action, especially through forgiveness and almsgiving; understood here as a reflection of God’s own mercy.

Almsgiving – The practice of giving to those in need, often viewed in Christian teaching as a means of purifying the heart.

Pure of heart – Those whose inner life is undivided, cleansed from sin, and oriented entirely towards God.

Vision of God (Beatific Vision) – The direct seeing of God ‘face to face’ in eternity, promised to the pure of heart; the ultimate fulfilment of human longing.