This Sunday we hear Matthew’s account of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.” We’ve heard it over and over since we were children and are hardly shocked by Jesus’ description of the reign of God. Undoubtedly some of those who gathered on that slope to listen to Jesus were shocked by the picture he painted of the Reign of God. It made no sense and ran contrary to the sociopolitical reality of their lives.
What was he thinking?…The meek will inherit the land? We all know that it is the powerful who control the land; it is the powerful who decide who enters the land and who gets to stay in the land…and the “peace-makers,” well, they usually get run over by the armies and the people with the biggest weapons! And what was he saying about the “poor in spirit”?…Theirs is the Kingdom of God? Wait a minute, I thought the Kingdom belonged to the righteous and those who followed The Law down to the letter.
Well, the truth is that Jesus had a different take on the whole matter. The beatitudes name the ways in which peoples’ lives and wellbeings are threatened: by grinding poverty, grief, landlessness, hunger, war, and the open and active persecution of the people by the Roman occupation.
Jesus does not advise that those so afflicted simply wait for a reversal of fortune in the here-after, although the final verse does speak of great reward in heaven.
Jesus calls for attitudes and actions that will more fully bring about the reign of God. The poor in spirit are the humble whose wealth is found in God and not in gold…any wealth they do have is to be shared with the materially poor. The meek are not to be “shrinking violets” who accept injustices, but rather, those who know their proper place as children of God, and who stand up and resist repression, to insure that all people are treated with dignity and as full heirs to God’s Reign.
The beatitudes are really “Be - Attitudes”…they call us to holiness through reaching out to all who suffer in this world, and promise us that to the extent that we reach out to, and work on the behalf of the suffering, to the extent we work to right injustices against immigrants and migrants, when we work to end all forms of systemic racism, misogyny and all policies that marginalize, silence and demean the human dignity of our sisters and brothers, then we will become more fully the “blessed of God” and through that resistance we are actively building up the Reign of God!
As we take time this week to reflect on this Gospel in light of all of the violence and intimidation against immigrants across our nation by Federal Authorities, let us ask ourselves: in what concrete ways will I live out the “Be – Attitudes” this week and show my resistance to the anti-immigrant violence? Will I join local prayer protests, and stand in solidarity with my immigrant sisters and brothers? Will I write and call multiple members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, to share my thoughts on the brutality of ICE actions in cities around the country like in Minneapolis? Can I call the White House and register my opinion on the brutal and inhumane tactics and policies towards immigrants and immigration that this Administration is undertaking? Remembering that every prayer, every phone call, every letter, every act of resistance matters because we are a people of light living in a time of growing darkness. And, we need to let our light shine, as individuals, as communities and as a nation by our words and by our actions.
May the Holy Spirit that dwells within each one of us, guide us and guard us as we seek to resist hatred and evil and seek to
be builders of peace and makers of justice as we pursue to build up the Reign of God in the here and now.
May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!
Fr. Tim
What was he thinking?…The meek will inherit the land? We all know that it is the powerful who control the land; it is the powerful who decide who enters the land and who gets to stay in the land…and the “peace-makers,” well, they usually get run over by the armies and the people with the biggest weapons! And what was he saying about the “poor in spirit”?…Theirs is the Kingdom of God? Wait a minute, I thought the Kingdom belonged to the righteous and those who followed The Law down to the letter.
Well, the truth is that Jesus had a different take on the whole matter. The beatitudes name the ways in which peoples’ lives and wellbeings are threatened: by grinding poverty, grief, landlessness, hunger, war, and the open and active persecution of the people by the Roman occupation.
Jesus does not advise that those so afflicted simply wait for a reversal of fortune in the here-after, although the final verse does speak of great reward in heaven.
Jesus calls for attitudes and actions that will more fully bring about the reign of God. The poor in spirit are the humble whose wealth is found in God and not in gold…any wealth they do have is to be shared with the materially poor. The meek are not to be “shrinking violets” who accept injustices, but rather, those who know their proper place as children of God, and who stand up and resist repression, to insure that all people are treated with dignity and as full heirs to God’s Reign.
The beatitudes are really “Be - Attitudes”…they call us to holiness through reaching out to all who suffer in this world, and promise us that to the extent that we reach out to, and work on the behalf of the suffering, to the extent we work to right injustices against immigrants and migrants, when we work to end all forms of systemic racism, misogyny and all policies that marginalize, silence and demean the human dignity of our sisters and brothers, then we will become more fully the “blessed of God” and through that resistance we are actively building up the Reign of God!
As we take time this week to reflect on this Gospel in light of all of the violence and intimidation against immigrants across our nation by Federal Authorities, let us ask ourselves: in what concrete ways will I live out the “Be – Attitudes” this week and show my resistance to the anti-immigrant violence? Will I join local prayer protests, and stand in solidarity with my immigrant sisters and brothers? Will I write and call multiple members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, to share my thoughts on the brutality of ICE actions in cities around the country like in Minneapolis? Can I call the White House and register my opinion on the brutal and inhumane tactics and policies towards immigrants and immigration that this Administration is undertaking? Remembering that every prayer, every phone call, every letter, every act of resistance matters because we are a people of light living in a time of growing darkness. And, we need to let our light shine, as individuals, as communities and as a nation by our words and by our actions.
May the Holy Spirit that dwells within each one of us, guide us and guard us as we seek to resist hatred and evil and seek to
be builders of peace and makers of justice as we pursue to build up the Reign of God in the here and now.
May the peace and light of the Risen Christ be upon you all!
Fr. Tim
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