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The Pursuit of Happiness - God's Way: Living the Beatitudes

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Regarding the Sermon on the Mount, we Christians today are in much need of Moses' exhortation in Deuteronomy 30, which St. Paul interprets in Romans 10 as pertaining to the righteousness of faith in Jesus: ""For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach . . . But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it."

In "The Pursuit of Happiness - God's Way: Living the Beatitudes," Dominican professor Fr. Servais Pinckaers gently yet piercingly challenges the widespread presumption of the impracticality of the demands of the Sermon on the Mount, especially in their more exalted form according to St. Matthew. Fr. Pinckaers wields the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," with gentle precision to "pierce asunder" modern versus biblical conceptions of the key words of the Beatitudes: "poor," "mercy," "justice," etc..

In each word study Fr. Pinckaers "renews us in the spirit of our minds" to see the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' imminently practical summons to beatitude - that is, the blessedness or happiness of enjoying the divine Presence - in this life. Fr. Pinckaers does not in the least compromise the exalted call of the Beatitudes by re-interpreting them in conveniently pragmatic terms. Rather, he exposes the one-sided, even negative modern connotations attached to the key words of the Beatitudes that prevent us from seeing their ultimate practicality: Jesus' Sermon is His summons to every Christian, not just a select few, to permit the sufferings of this life to become tools of the Holy Spirit's ministry in us to re-make us into the image of Christ, who by His unshakeable fidelity and charity unto death perfectly "practiced what He preached."

Thus Fr. Pinckaers shows, in accordance with the wisdom of Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, that the paradoxical pairings of suffering and happiness in the Beatitudes are neither merely inspirational "ideals" nor standards of perfection for an elite few. Rather, these paradoxes practically illustrate what the Holy Spirit will accomplish in us if we are willing to use our faith, hope and charity as St. James exhorts us: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Or, in the words of our Lord, that we may "be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect." The Sermon on the Mount is nothing less that the "universal call to holiness" which is "impossible with men, but possible with God."

This book tells the story of why we are here. It goes through the beatitudes and shows them to be a guide on how to live but also a guide on how to be happy.
I found the writing to be excellent and I couldn't put the book down.
I think everyone would find it helpful.