In this episode of Building a Kingdom of Love, Msgr. John Esseff reflects on the Beatitudes as the true path to joy and happiness, drawing directly from the Gospel of Matthew. He explains that “blessed” does not mean successful by the world’s standards, but joyful in the deepest sense because one is living in union with Christ.

Msgr. Esseff walks through the Beatitudes as a pattern of life that runs against worldly expectations. Poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, mercy, and perseverance in suffering are not signs of failure but places where Christ lives most fully within the soul. He draws on the witness of St. Francis of Assisi to show that joy reaches its depth when a person can remain interiorly free and joyful even amid rejection, hardship, and misunderstanding.

The reflection turns inward to the obstacles that block joy, especially anger, judgment, and unforgiveness. Msgr. Esseff speaks candidly about how bitterness toward others, wounds from parents or spouses, and the refusal to forgive oneself fracture interior union with Christ. True unhappiness, he explains, flows not from suffering itself but from separation from Christ’s way of love.

A significant portion of the episode focuses on forgiveness as essential to Beatitude living. Msgr. Esseff shares pastoral encounters with those burdened by guilt, grief, abortion wounds, addiction, and self-rejection. God’s mercy is infinite, yet joy remains elusive until the heart accepts forgiveness fully, including forgiveness of self.

The episode culminates in a profound meditation on identity. True humility is not self-condemnation but recognizing oneself as chosen, loved, and uniquely created by God. Joy flows from allowing Christ, who lives within through baptism, to shape one’s attitudes, relationships, and daily responses. The Beatitudes become not ideals to admire but a lived way of being Christ in the world.

1. Which Beatitude challenges my understanding of happiness the most right now?

2. Where do anger, judgment, or unforgiveness interrupt my interior joy?

3. Is there someone I need to forgive, including myself, so Christ’s joy can deepen in me?

4. How do I respond when suffering, rejection, or misunderstanding comes into my life?

5. What would change if I truly lived each day from my identity as one loved by God?

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D., at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He continues to offer direction and retreats to the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity worldwide. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world, especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director for bishops, priests, sisters, seminarians, and other religious leaders around the world.