§1716The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.…

§1720The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man: - the coming of the Kingdom of God;16 - the vision of God: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"17 - entering into the joy of the Lord;18 - entering into God's rest:19 There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we shall love and praise. Behold what will be…

§2518The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."306 "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity;307 chastity or sexual rectitude;308 love of truth and orthodoxy of faith.309 There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith:…

There is but one author, and one end to both covenants. 1. All things therefore are of one and the same substance, that is, from one and the same God; as also the Lord says to the disciples Therefore every scribe, which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like a man that is an householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. Matthew 13:52 He did …

That one God formed all things in the world, by means of the Word and the Holy Spirit: and that although He is to us in this life invisible and incomprehensible, nevertheless He is not unknown; inasmuch as His works do declare Him, and His Word has shown that in many modes He may be seen and known. 1. As regards His greatness, therefore, it is not possible to know God, for it i…

2. Whence then does He begin? And what kind of foundations of His new polity does He lay for us? Let us hearken with strict attention unto what is said. For though it was spoken unto them, it was written for the sake also of all men afterwards. And accordingly on this account, though He had His disciples in His mind in His public preaching, yet unto them He limits not His sayin…

2. But wherefore does He still go on, when the others have withdrawn, to speak to these also in parables? They had become wiser by His sayings, so as even to understand. At any rate, to them He says afterwards, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. So completely, together with its other objects, did the parable effect this too, that it made them mor…

1. God will not have us listen to the words and sentences contained in the Scriptures carelessly, but with much attention. This is why the blessed David has prefixed in many places to his Psalms the title for understanding, and has said, Open Thou my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law. Psalm 32:42, etc.; Psalm 119:18 And after him his son again shows that w…

1. A great thing is love, and stronger than fire itself, and it goes up to the very heaven; there is no hindrance which can restrain its tearing force. And so the most fervent Peter, when he hears, Whither I go ye cannot come, what says he? Lord, where are you going? and this he said, not so much from wish to learn, as from desire to follow. To say openly, I go, he dared not ye…

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210232.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

1. Paul wishing to show the difference between the New and Old [Covenant], scatters it everywhere; and shoots from afar, and noises it abroad, and prepares beforehand. For at once even from the introduction, he laid down this saying, that to them indeed He spoke by prophets, but to us by the Son c. i. 1, 2, and to them at sundry times and in various manners, but to us through t…

Chapter 21.—Utterances of the Prophet Isaiah Regarding the Resurrection of the Dead and the Retributive Judgment. The prophet Isaiah says, “The dead shall rise again, and all who were in the graves shall rise again; and all who are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew which is from Thee is their health, and the earth of the wicked shall fall.”14131413 Isa. xxvi. 19. All the …

Chapter 29.—Of the Beatific Vision. And now let us consider, with such ability as God may vouchsafe, how the saints shall be employed when they are clothed in immortal and spiritual bodies, and when the flesh shall live no longer in a fleshly but a spiritual fashion. And indeed, to tell the truth, I am at a loss to understand the nature of that employment, or, shall I rather sa…

Marriage in the Integral Vision of Man The Gospels according to Matthew and Mark report the answer Christ gave to the Pharisees when they questioned him about the indissolubility of marriage. They referred to the law of Moses, which in certain cases admitted the practice of the so-called certificate of divorce. Reminding them of the first chapters of Genesis, Christ answered: …

Chapter 1.— Signs, Their Nature and Variety. 1. As when I was writing about things, I introduced the subject with a warning against attending to anything but what they are in themselves, even though they are signs of something else, so now, when I come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs, I lay down this direction, not to attend to what they are in themselves, but to th…