NOTES for Mat 5:1-16
We are beginning to read the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ. Christians have always considered this text one of the most important for a person's formation in faith; it is said that in the early Church it even served as a basis for catechesis, the preparation of a person for baptism. We will see further on that the moral demands of the Sermon on the Mount are so high that they expose every one of us. And it would be very easy to fall into despondency, but throughout all the following days let us remember what we read today. Christ begins with a promise and encouragement, promising blessedness on the path of following Him, that is, some highest degree of happiness. And all this is because this is the very path where He Himself goes before us and does not leave us.