Jesus is changing the way we human beings can see the world and ourselves. He is overturning the hurtful values in which many of us are raised. He does so on a mountain side as he addresses a crowd. We learn we are blessed in ways we never realized.
Blessed are we when poor in spirit for when we give away being rich, materially or in pride, we experience a wealth of relationships that thrive within the Community of God. Blessed are we when we mourn because if we do not shed tears and grieve ours and others’ losses and feel the depth of sadness that life evokes in us through suffering, then we will not experience the depth of our humanity as a vulnerable soul. Blessed are we when meek because when we relinquish the control of exclusive little fiefdoms we inherit a world of shared gentleness. Blessed are we when we hunger and thirst for goodness because when we live a life of generativity, of contributing to the world to make life better for others, we will be satisfied. Blessed are we when compassionate for when we put ourselves in the heart of another person and feel their life in all its intricacies we will know love. Blessed are we when pure of heart for we shall have discovered life’s secret, which isn’t really a secret at all – it’s all Love! – as far as the heart can see. Blessed are we peacemakers because we bring to an end the lie of warmakers, that slaughtering us for millennia keeps us safe – the lie is over and our age of creatively living through conflicts is upon us. Blessed are we when persecuted for the sake of Jesus’ Way, when ‘they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me, Rejoice and be glad,’ for together we are changing lives.
“(Y)ou learned to be a better bearer confronting uneasy choices, changing bad habits to beatitudes and giving up some pleasures; some days your burden was much too heavy to feel any blissful joy, In undoubted ways, you raised from the ground up … and dared how to change someone’s life in a matter of minutes.” (How to Change Someone’s Life – Andrew Crisci)
Prayer: Spirit, we experience our blessed power
Question: How am I blessed in life?
January 29, 2017 Gospel Matthew 5:1-12 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time