r of man; and this he excludes,
saying, fourthly: "Blessed shall you be, when men shall hate you."
And as Ambrose says on Luke 6:20, "poverty corresponds to temperance,
which is unmoved by delights; hunger, to justice, since who hungers
is compassionate and, through compassion gives; mourning, to
prudence, which deplores perishable things; endurance of men's hatred
belongs to fortitude."
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 69, Art. 4]

Whether the Rewards of the Beatitudes Are Suitably Enumerated?

Objection 1: It would seem that the rewards of the beatitudes are
unsuitably enumerated. Because the kingdom of heaven, which is
eternal life, contains all good things. Therefore, once given the
kingdom of heaven, no other rewards should be mentioned.

Obj. 2: Further, the kingdom of heaven is assigned as the reward,
both of the first and of the eighth beatitude. Therefore, on the same
ground it should have been assigned to all.

Obj. 3: Further, the beatitudes are arranged in the ascending order,
as Augustine remarks (De Serm. Dom. in Monte i, 4): whereas the
rewards seem to be placed in the descending order, since to "possess
the land" is less than to possess "the kingdom of heaven." Therefore
these rewards are unsuitably enumerated.

_On the contrary,_ stands the authority of Our Lord Who propounded
these rewards.

_I answer that,_ These rewards are most suitably assigned,
considering the nature of the beatitudes in relation to the three
kinds of happiness indicated above (A. 3). For the first three
beatitudes concerned the withdrawal of man from those things in which
sensual happiness consists: which happiness man desires by seeking
the object of his natural desire, not where he should seek it, viz.
in God, but in temporal and perishable things. Wherefore the rewards
of the first three beatitudes correspond to these things which some
men seek to find in earthly happiness. For men seek in external
things, viz. riches and honors, a certain excellence and abundance,
both of which are implied in the kingdom of heaven, whereby man
attains to excellence and abundance of good things in God. Hence Our
Lord promised the kingdom of heaven to the poor in spirit. Again,
cruel and pitiless men seek by wrangling and fighting to destroy
their enemies so as to gain security for themselves. Hence Our Lord
promised the meek a secure and peaceful possession of the land of the
living, whereby the solid reality of ete