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.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted....
The Gospel selections for the weekdays of Ordinary Time begin with the Book of Mark (the oldest) and proceed to Matthew and Luke. The four Evangelists present a remarkably similar profile of Jesus throughout their writings even as each brings a different perspective. Mark describes a solitary prophet who pays the price of our salvation to the last penny. Matthew announces the new Moses, a lawgiver who calls everyone to live by the standards of God's Kingdom. Luke offers the Holy Spirit who guides Jesus throughout his brief life and then directs his Church.
And so, today, with the infancy narratives behind us, we begin a series of readings from Saint Matthew's gospel. The longest of the four gospels teaches us how to live in the Kingdom of God. It is dawning upon us as surely as the rising sun, and those who do not hear must remain in cold, bleak darkness. The Beatitudes recall Moses' Ten Commandments not with limits and confining rules but with a series of marvelous promises. Those who hear and welcome them are blessed.
Matthew's Jesus speaks to us with greater authority than Moses; he announces the way things are in the Kingdom of Heaven (a phrase he uses 33x). Reluctant to speak God's name, or even to speak directly of God, he does not name the One who blesses the poor, the grieving, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness. His listeners, of course, know that One is the same LORD who directed Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and into Palestine, they also recognize Jesus as the prophetic lawgiver who speaks both with the authority God has given him, and on his own authority. He and the Father are one.
Jesus describes the way things are; he is not imagining a new set of ideals by which we should live. Ideals are, by definition, unattainable. They are fanciful visions of what could be if only certain things would happen; if only people would think, feel, and act differently; if only we could remake the world the way it should have been made in the first place.
Jesus cannot be bothered with ideals born of Earth's sinful cultures. They reflect only the limited imagination of those who are trapped and impaired by the world they have created.
Rather, Jesus announces blessings to those who accept the way things are in the Kingdom of Heaven. His beatitudes describe eight different groups, a fulsome number with room for everyone. Each group is blessed; they have only to recognize their blessedness.
The blessed know and believe in God. They see with the eyes of faith what many can neither see nor imagine. We're familiar with that phenomenon. Every spring we're reminded, "Start seeing motorcycles!" because many drivers cannot imagine a motorcycle on the highway, much less a bicycle or pedestrian. And their blindness kills people.
The faithful see poverty, grief, meekness, and hunger; and they see the blessings God gives to the poor, the grief-stricken, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness. The blessed celebrate God's goodness while the world looks on in bewildered dismay. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
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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.