This term, our topic is Reconciliation and we’ve been learning about the importance of having rules. We imagined living in a world without rules and we decided that it would be difficult to feel safe in such an environment. We linked this idea to the ten commandments and came to realise that in order to have the freedom God wants for us, we must have responsibilities. The ten commandments tell us what ‘not’ to do and in this lesson we learned about the Beatitudes , which tell what we ‘should’ do.
Matthew’s Gospel collects Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes together in what is called the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus went up the mountain and sat town and taught the people. Matthew’s readers would remember how Moses brought God’s law (rules) to the people. Matthew wants his readers to recognise Jesus as the new Moses, calling people to a new way of living. These are the beatitudes we learned about:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In this lesson, we discussed each beatitude in depth, what they mean to us and what the beatitudes look like in the context of our lives. We got into groups and rehearsed scenes demonstrating the beatitudes. After performing the scenes for the rest of the class, our peers had to guess which beatitude was being demonstrated and explain why.
