So we have before us, this precious time. Yesterday, I learned about a tragedy involving a family that suffered unto death, from the scourge of mental illness. The father lost his fight, and took with him, his wife and two teen sons. My friend who knew the family, felt like what’s the point when all this scratching and striving and trying can lead to this sort of outcome. What is the value of a life lived in which one may have striven, sought, found, but then yeilded?
All lives are more than their outcome, for all outcomes are the same. We all must meet death at some point. The meaning of our livecs may be the lesson someone else learns, the struggle, what we did and how we loved despite all our flaws. Christ loves us despite all our flaws –if we need a reminder, we need only look at our first pope, who even after the ressurection, needed redirection from his fellow apostles to keep the doors of the Universal Church more open than human understanding allows. Peter had to love as God loves, not as humans love –to open his heart and the kingdom entrusted to him through the Holy Spirit, to all of Christ’ sheep.
The good news of the ressurected Christ, is for all who hear and allow it to take root in their hearts, the people who seek, will find.
My own heart has been wrapped around the Beattitudes as of late. For some reason, I struggle to hold onto them in my head and always have to look them up, whereas the ten commandments, they’re etched in stone in the head.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And I ponder, Saint Mother Teresa, and serving the poorest of the poor, and the call of Saint Theresa of Lisieux.
Those who embrace the “little way” of loving the person in front of them as Christ, already enjoy the beautific vision. It makes sense, that if you serve Christ before you always, you are already in the kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
And I think of this year of mourning, when people mentioning Mother’s day brings a lump to my throat, for all the years after fifty-eight that I won’t have here with my earthly mother. There is the promise of the resurrection, and the reminder that again, heaven is here ever mass. It means when I go to mass, when I enter into the mystery, I am closer to my mom and my dad, because I am with the one who loves them even more than me. It’s a startling reality –to imagine how Martha must have felt when her brother came out of the tomb. How do you put into words, the amount of joy felt in that incredible moment. We do not let our imaginations run deeply into that reality –but it is the very thing we profess every mass, and all of Easter. We assert God’s promise that death is not the end. We hold to it no matter the storm.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
These days, the meek are before us always. They come seeking sanctuary. They come with hope for a better life. We’re called by our faith, to be participants in that better life, to welcome the stranger, to provide for those in need, to give to the hungry, the naked, the sick, the dying, to not measure our generosity, but to address as we would want addressed, the needs of those we see. To be meek is to put others before you, to serve those who need most. It means it’s not about power or prestiege, or experience or wealth or success or degrees, it’s about washing the feet. Whose feet would we refuse to wash? That is who we must witness to…and I think of Saint Maximilian Kobe, offering his arm for the poison, taking another man’s place, and leading the prisoners in prayer and song. His joyful witness was an invitation even to his captors to turn away from sin. Whosoever is meek seeks forgiveness. Whosoever seeks Christ through meekness, through service, seeking forgiveness, will find Christ’s kingdom.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
God is love, and God is all just and all merciful. Therefore, when we trust God, we know that all we suffer shall be made whole. Christ heals, so we know when we see Christ, we shall also be made whole. Our hearts are meant for justice. We struggle when we encounter injustice. The very fact that we shake our heads and ask, “Why?” to the heavens, indicates we are oriented to justice. Our hearts long for a world in which people are treated with dignity –even if we fail to miss the mark.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Pope Francis gave us the gift, “The Year of Mercy” in 2015. To practice the corporeal and spiritual acts of mercy, is to imitate Christ on the cross. Imitating Christ with our whole life, means we will hear those beautiful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Blessed are the clean in heart,
for they will see God.
Clean of heart means having good intentions, with all we think, say and do –love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things. Being clean of heart means living that every day –and again, doing all the little things with great love. Doing the little things with great love is difficult. It again, requires a meekness of spirit, a willing to not indulge intrusive, angry, emotional or jealous thoughts.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Everywhere we look, we need peace. Peace requires willing the good of the other, sublimating ourselves and inviting those with whom we have serious disputes, to the table. Christ offers peace, we are to do the same.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:1-10
Here lies the hardest part of following Christ –the reward of being Christ like, isn’t necessarily here –that’s the prosperity Gospel, that doing good means you will live well here. Living a life as a disciple means embracing the cross and the cross begins with the rejection by others. It is what hurts more than physical pain. Christ wept in the garden, for those who would refuse Heaven, refuse mercy, refuse peace, refuse the poor, refuse to comfort, refuse to heal, refuse to help, refuse to love or accept love.
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