When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Today we begin a series of lectionary readings from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. The selection of weekday readings for Ordinary Time assumes we are familiar with the passages about Jesus’ birth, passion, death, and resurrection. These ordinary readings correspond to the third Luminous Mystery, which Pope Saint John Paul II described as the “proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion.”We come to these reading eager to hear the call to conversion. Clearly the Lord wants to speak to the Church, guiding, encouraging, reassuring, and healing us with the ointment of the Word. All he asks of us is the right disposition, a readiness to hear and be directed.
I could wish the editors of our lectionary had distributed the Beatitudes over several days. Each of them deserves much reflection. Each one evokes innumerable Old and New Testament citations, not to mention the teachings of the Fathers, Doctors, and Confessors; the Lives of the Saint, and many homely examples from our daily life.
But that’s the nature of scripture. Any competent preacher could spend a half-hour on the words, “When Jesus saw the crowds.” The Lord’s compassionate, hospitable gaze dazzles the mind.
The Beatitudes establish a theme for Jesus’s proclamation of the Kingdom of God. This new government (or regime or administration) will be unlike anything the world has ever seen. Rather than rule by the powerful for the benefit of the powerful, God’s Kingdom will bless the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and so forth.
The world has never seen anything like it because the world is incapable of imagining and formulating this policy, much less of administering it. Communist parties made a half-hearted attempt in several countries during the twentieth century. They thought enthusiasm, idealism, and patriotism could replace the practice of religion. Their governments were immediately corrupted and degenerated into kleptocracies.
(We can boast of capitalism that it never claimed to care about the least among us. Although it has co-opted the word service, its faith is founded on the law of supply and demand. Its marketing appeals not to our ideals but to our base desires for comfort and security.)
God’s Holy Spirit will animate The Kingdom of God. The poor in spirit are content with the knowledge of God. As Psalm 16 says,
LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you have made my destiny secure.
Pleasant places were measured out for me;
fair to me indeed is my inheritance.
And Psalm 23:
The LORD is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures he makes me lie down;
to still waters he leads me;
he restores my soul.
He guides me along right paths
for the sake of his name.
Although Christians appeal to the business leaders and government authorities for the sake of the least among us, we do not expect God’s Kingdom to appear in this world. No human system can administer justice successfully. We can be the conscience of the world without judging its adequacy; God will do that when That Day come. And so, we wait, trust, hope, pray, and love; confident that our presence is pleasing in God’s sight.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.