Bliss

– Term that means supreme happiness. Blessed (or happy, happy, blessed) are the righteous, as we read in several psalms:

Psalm 1 :1 : Happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked.

Ps 2:11 : Why do the nations tumult? Why do peoples plot vain plots?

Psalm 33 :9: Taste and see how good the Lord is, happy is the man who takes refuge in him.

Ps 39 :5 : Happy is the man who puts his hope in the Lord, and does not follow idolaters or apostates.

Ps 83:13 : O Lord of hosts, happy is the man who trusts in you.

Ps 105 :3: Happy are those who keep the precepts, those who at all times do what is right.

Ps 127,1-3 : Happy are those who fear the Lord, those who walk in his ways.

Ps 145 :5: Happy is he who has the God of Jacob as his protector, who puts his hope in the Lord his God.

– Also in other wisdom books he is called blessed who does no evil:

Pr 8:34 : Happy is the man who listens to me, who watches daily at my door and keeps the posts of my house!

Pr 16:20 : Whoever listens to the word attentively finds happiness; blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

Eclo 1,10.18 : This religion guards and sanctifies the heart; it brings you satisfaction and joy.

Eclo 14,22 : Happy the man who perseveres in wisdom, who trains himself in the practice of justice […].

Eclo 25,9-16 : Nine things present themselves to my spirit, which I consider happy.

Eclo 26,1 : Happy is the man who has a good wife, for the number of his years will be doubled.

Eclo 31,8 : Blessed is the rich man who was found without blemish, who did not run after gold.

Wis 3,13-14 : Happy is the barren woman, but pure from all stain […] Happy is the eunuch whose hand has not done evil.

– Among the various NT passages in which the concept of blessedness appears, the best known is the Sermon on the Mount. Two evangelists present it from different perspectives:

Lk 5–7 : Blessed are the poor at heart, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!

Lk 6,20-49 : Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God!

– Matthew, by addressing his countrymen, was more concerned with the full interpretation of the Jewish laws, demonstrating that the new law was superior because it deepened its fulfillment:

Mt 5,17 : Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the prophets.

Mt 5,21-22.27.33.38.43 : You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor and be able to hate your enemy.

Mt 6,1.5.7.16.19.22.24.25-34 : The eye is the light of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be enlightened.

Mt 7,1-28 : Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

– Luke wrote for pagans and therefore did not dwell so much on the religious practices of the Jews, but on establishing among the new communities principles for a Christian life with hope focused on the future life:

Lk 6,20-49 : Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God!