In a recent homily on the Beatitudes, the preacher I was listening to alluded to the fact that it is not known what "mount" (hill?) the Sermon on the Mount was delivered on--a point made by Father Martin at the start of chapter 10. The preacher also made the point that the Sermon on the Mount was not likely delivered in one sitting, but that this sermon represents a summary of our Lord's core teaching--a point also emphasized by Father Martin. Through the eyes and experience of Father Martin and his traveling companion, we learn more and more about what Holy Land sites might be authentic and what sites are simply not known.
When I read the Beatitudes, I get hung up on God’s sense of timing. The promised rewards for all the “blessed”--the humble, the poor in spirit, the peacemakers, those who mourn--seem to be destined to take place at some point in the future.
Also, His list of those who are happy/blest seems out of
sync with the world we live in where, by all appearances…..
…Happy are well well-off.
Their worries seem to be few.
…Happy are the gadget-rich.
They seem to have it made in the shade.
. . Happy are the good-looking. Doors seem to open for them so easily.
And so I ask, my soul asks:
“What about now? What about us?”
For me, the answer came at an Advent retreat I participated
in this week, in which the retreat leader reminded us that God never tires of
calling us, and naming us, and blessing us now, in the present. We need to have the eyes to see and the ears
to hear what God is actively doing in the life of each of us. Now is our time in salvation history, the speaker kept emphasizing. We need to see
it and be open to it. Open to the
continuous outpouring of blessings coming our way in the here and now. More acutely aware of the activity of God in the present.
Beatitude is not just a future hope. With the eyes to see and ears to hear, the experience of being blessed/happy becomes a present reality as well. And we become Beatitude, the more we embody the Beatitudes.
Questions to Ponder and Discuss:
1. "Blessed are the Poor" is Luke's version of this verse of the Beatitudes. What does that mean for you?
2. What is for you the most challenging of the Beatitudes in Matthew's version (pp. 180 -81)?
3. Do you know anyone whom you would call a "person of the Beatitudes?"
4. Pick one of the Beatitudes. Pray about it and try to act on it every day this week.
Steven Olson
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"Blessed (happy) are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven...For me, that seems to be a real challenging beatitude. Blessed (happy) am I that I have not had the experience of that, but I think of many people who because they wanted to do the right thing for their country, their job, their family, etc. -- just trying to live as a disciple of Jesus, have suffered because of this. Sometimes when trying to make a decision about something really small or insignificant, I might think in the ETERNAL scheme of things, is this really important, but when it comes to something of a moral decision or ethical decision, I think that way of thinking is more important. Father Martin says "The Beatitudes are a vision not only for the end times, or for society, but for us. We become who Jesus hopes us to be, as a people and as individuals. So we are blessed." We truly would be blessed as a nation, as a community, as a Church, as a family, etc. if there were more beatitude people around, including myself, who has never lived all of the beatitudes, but keeps trying.
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