Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, gave an 11-minute homily on Sunday, February 1.
The Sermon on the Mount or Eight Beatitudes was the greatest sermon ever given. It contains the whole of the new covenant.
Jesus brings the crowd to the top of the mountain but sits down. Those who practice the beatitudes come to the beatific vision. They start out with, Blessed are the child-like, those who trust. The second and third beatitudes continue to innoculate us against evil. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek because the meek are invincible. Bishop Barron lists the four great evils – lust for power, pleasure, money, and honor. The first three beatitudes disarm these evils.
It’s the seventh beatitude that clinches the deal – blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.
That seventh beatitude prepares you for number eight – blessed are you when they insult and persecute you. You have the inperturbible peace of Christ within you.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the morality section, we have the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament and what do we have from the New Testament? – the Beatitudes.
Brilliant work, Fr Illo!!!!
Well, no surprise there. Who would want to argue that they or someone else preached a better sermon than Jesus?!
On any given subject, at any given time, in any given place; Jesus is the most knowledgeable person “in the room.”
Of course, being Divine makes Him omniscient, so that means He is infinitely wiser than the rest of us.
So, take Him at His Word.
Blessed are you when jon insults you and persecutes you.