Eight Promises of God: Discovering Hope Through the Beatitudes

Deanna Bartalini recommends the new book by Father Mark- Mary Ames, CFR, centered on what the Beatitudes mean, how they offer us hope, and how to live them.  

Eight Promises of God: Discovering Hope Through the Beatitudes

By Father Mark-Mary Ames, CFR

Published by Ascension Press

Ask most Catholics to recite the Ten Commandments and they are able to do so. Even if the last three or four are not in the right order, they know the Commandments. Now, ask them to recite the Beatitudes. If you can, you deserve a gold star. I cannot, though I have studied in Catholic institutions for about 20 years and worked in various parishes for most of my life. In theory, we know the Beatitudes are important and since given to us by Jesus, necessary for us to know and live by. But they are a bit confusing and certainly counter-cultural.  

Jesus calls us to a radical shift, asking us to be different in word and action from the world around us. Father Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, has written a book that explains the Beatitudes in a way that makes sense to us today. Eight Promises of God: Discovering Hope Through the Beatitudes published by Ascension will help you understand and embrace what Jesus sets before us. 

Structure of Eight Promises of God 

Each chapter begins with a story from Fr. Mark-Mary’s life or his work with the poor. These little glimpses show us how ordinary people live out each beatitude. He then uses Scripture to show us how Jesus lived out the beatitude. I had never considered this at all. It is logical though: Jesus was not a man only of words, He was a man of deeds and actions. We are reminded that, “He (Jesus) is key to understanding the Beatitudes.” The Gospels tell us how He lived, and Father Mark-Mary gives many examples from Scripture for each beatitude. This might be my favorite part of the book.  

He then moves from Jesus to how can we live out this beatitude. He gives us concrete examples and again pulls from scripture to help us learn. The last section is about the example of Mary, Our Blessed Mother, using the beautiful prayer, the Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55 as an anchor throughout the book. 

Why Read This Book? 

If you have ever wondered about the Beatitudes and if they are relevant to your life, read this book. If you have ever thought you wanted to learn more about the Beatitudes so you could live them out in your life, read this book.  

Father Mark-Mary writes in an engaging style, using real examples of how to live in hope with the Beatitudes.  

“Blessed are the meek. For they will inherit the land,” (Matthew 5:5); I am not what most people would consider meek. As I read this chapter, I realized how my life can be different if I am meek:

The wrong struggle is the struggle to prove ourselves. The wrong struggle is the struggle to try to achieve and find our identity or worth or value through something we do, or how we look, or what we have.   

The right struggle is the struggle to receive these words of the father spoken over us you are my beloved son you are my beloved daughter with whom I am well pleased the right struggle is the struggle a radical conversion and conformity to Jesus, so that through him we can enter fully and totally into his relationship with the father and participate in it.

Father Mark-Mary continues with more “right struggles,” keeping Scripture in front of us, remaining dependent and receptive before God and contemplating the Most Holy Eucharist and the Cross. 

This book will do things for you. One, it will help you better understand the Beatitudes and so be able to explain them to others. And two, it will help you come to more deeply understand how much you are loved and that you are capable of living out the Beatitudes in your life, today. 

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Copyright 2025 Deanna Bartalini
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