30 Jan

Suppose we could ask Jesus what were the most important things he wants to tell us. Certainly his answer would mention the kingdom of God. He constantly referred to it and told several stories to illustrate it. “Listen,” he would say, “the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is like . . . “ Then he would choose something perfectly familiar to his listeners, and weave a story around it. Jesus is showing how things would be if God ruled our personal lives and our society.
Always the attitudes and responses of at least one figure are those of a totally loving person. We see this very clearly in two of Jesus’ best-known stories. The father is completely loving in the story of the prodigal son, as is the Samaritan in the tale of the wounded traveler. In such character sketches, Jesus is drawing a portrait of God.
In our gospel today(Matt. 5:1-12), Jesus turns to the crowd and decides to share with them, and of course with us, what kind of world we would have if God’s holy and loving will were reflected in human thought and action. What astonishes anyone really listening is the way everything Jesus says seems to fly in the face of all we have come to think of as practical and possible and reasonable in our society!
In Jesus’ scenario, it is the poor in spirit, not necessarily the confident and the powerful, who find the kingdom. Mourning is not necessarily something which destroys us. It can help us to discover the comforting love of others and so glimpse God’s kingdom of love. Meekness, contemptible in our society, can often be deceptive. Underneath it there can be a great deal of grace and holiness, if we can only be open to it.
On and on Jesus goes, giving us glimpses of a kingdom which turns our values upside down. Our society tends to think that being merciful is weak; Jesus says otherwise. Our society tends to think that being pure is rather quaint; Jesus says otherwise. Our society often thinks of peacemakers as interfering or unrealistic or even subversive; Jesus says otherwise. What this gospel is telling us is that we would be wise to put our whole value system under the light of Christ’s mind and spirit. The results would often surprise us, to put it mildly.

Peace,
Fr. Bob +