What Are the Beatitudes?

The Beatitudes are divinely given means for us to attain blessedness and thus true happiness as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) summarizes well the meaning and purpose of the Beatitudes:

The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints (CCC 1717).

The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven. . . (CCC 1716).

The Beatitudes are provided in full in Matthew 5:1-12.