Jesus’ opening teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is referred to as The Beatitudes. They are the Gospel reading commemorating the active witness of every saint on every All Saints Feast Day. Given the active witness of saints, it is therefore at least odd that the Beatitudes are inaccurately translated into the passive voice, for example, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.”
That passive voice is indeed an inaccurate translation. More accurate than the passive, “Blessed are,” is the active, “Walk forth.” John Dear, a peacemaker and thus ejected from the Jesuit priesthood, has reconsidered Jesus’ opening words on the Sermon in that light. Paraphrasing from John Dear it is thus offered: Walk forth, you poor in spirit! Keep living and working together, relying on Christ and on each other as you share your gifts. The Community of God is yours. Walk forth, you who mourn for victims of domination and hunger and war! Keep opening your hearts to feeling other people’s pain, committed, with them, to ending it. You will be consoled. Walk forth, you meek and gentle ones! You embrace service, a soft heart, and shared vulnerability, and together you witness the way of true power. Inherit the earth. Walk forth, you who hunger and thirst for goodness! Your holiness in action, your courage in the face of fear, your determination amidst deprivation nourish us. You will be satisfied in your longing. Walk forth, you compassionate ones! You are tenderness and love and healing balm for all who suffer. Compassion will be yours. Walk forth, you pure in heart! When others are domineering you embrace communion, when others are heartless you embody love, when others are cruel you express kindness. Walk forth, you peacemakers! Keep talking and sharing and praying and organizing and creating peace. You are children of God. Walk forth, you insulted and persecuted ones! Keep forgiving and changing the persecutors and the world through your strength, for yours is the Community of God. You are in communion with All Saints; Stephen, Catherine of Siena, Mother Maria Skobtsova, Oscar Romero, Berta Caceres, and so many others who have had every type of evil set against you because you follow Christ’s loving Way. Rejoice and be glad.
“Choose and do what is right, not what fancy takes, Not weighing the possibilities, but bravely grasping the real, Not in the flight of ideas, but only in action… Come away from your anxious hesitations into the storm of events,… embrace your spirit with rejoicing.” (Prison Poems – Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Prayer: Spirit of Courage, we walk forth with you.
Question: How am walking forth with others to be All Saints for our world?
November 01, 2020 Gospel Matthew 5:1-12 All Saints