February 1 [media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, February 1, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time MATTHEW 5:1-12a My Guide in Life
Prayerthoughts a. Jesus addresses the words to the crowds and therefore to me. Do I truly listen to all of the words that the Lord gives me? b. Poor in spirit: do I allow material things to dominate my life? c. Mourn: there is pain my life, but Jesus and what he teaches is the answer to that pain. d. Meek: this is a direct statement against power and the people who want more power. Do I try to be more important than others? e. Righteousness: do I really work at prayer and closeness to the Lord, and desire to be a holy person? f. Mercy: do I reach out to the hurting people around me and help them if we I can? g. Clean of heart: am I honest, sincere, and do I lie to protect myself? h. Peacemakers: do I really try to reconcile the factions that divide us? i. Suffer insult: I should expect criticism for trying to be a good person, but I should be a good person anyway. j. My prayerthoughts…
Today, I will read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and write an important thought from it.
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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE BEATITUDES: MORE THAN LAW
Introduction + This story comes out of the country of Scotland - there was a noted preacher who was also a pastor of a parish in the town - because of his excellent preaching, he was quite well known, and many important people came to hear him - one of those people was a likewise well-known lawyer in the country who began to show up on a regular basis - the pastor wanted him to become a member of his Church - so he prepared a 10 week set of sermons on the 10 commandments, thinking that law would attract a lawyer - powerful, eloquent, clear presentation of the commandments - sure enough, the lawyer asked to join the church - pastor felt a little proud of the fact that he had been instrumental in the lawyer’s faith life - and so he asked him just what part of his presentation led him to the acceptance of the Church - much to the pastor’s humiliation—a lesson he learned for life— - the lawyer did not even mention his presentation - instead, he told of how an elderly woman from the congregation talked to him outside of the Church a couple of times - she had asked whether he was a Christian - and he had said, “I’m thinking about it.” - and she responded: “I hope you go further than just thinking. God really loves you and me.” - he told the pastor that as he looked at her eyes, he knew that she had something that he really wanted
The Beatitudes are Jesus’ guidelines + I question the religious education which most of us have received in the past - not that it was wrong, but that the stress may have been wrong - you and I were taught with “law” in mind - the 10 commandments have been regarded as central to our religion - much of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is built around them - in fact, the way I studied moral theology—what’s right and what’s wrong according to God—was based on the 10 commandments, going through them one by one - there is obviously nothing wrong with the 10 commandments and what they say - but it is not enough for a Christian’s moral life - Jesus gave us only two commandments, love God and love neighbor, - and then he gave us these Beatitudes which are an explanation of what those two commandments mean - consequently the Beatitudes become the general guidelines of Jesus’ morality, that is, how we should live in the world
The
Beatitudes in Twenty-first Century Language * poor in spirit – that we don’t allow material things to dominate our lives * mourn – there is pain in life, but Jesus and what he teaches is the answer to that pain * meek – a direct statement against power and the people who want more power, who try to lord it over others, and always demand respect * righteousness – that we really work at prayer and closeness to the Lord, and desire to be holy people * mercy –we must reach out to the many hurting people around us and help them if we possibly can * clean of heart – we must get rid of all duplicity, be honest, sincere, and not lie to protect ourselves or others * peacemakers – really try to reconcile the factions that are between us * suffer insult – expect criticism for being a good person, but be a good person anyway - these Beatitudes introduce a way of life which goes much further than the 10 commandments and give us the law of love that should govern everything we do
Alexander Solzhenitsyn + One of the stronger commentators of our past, a Russian novelist, an American citizen, a Nobel Prize winner in 1970, exiled from his native Soviet Union, finally allowed back in before he died in 2008—is a man by the name of Alexander Solzhenitsyn - he wrote extensively on law and had this to say in one of his books: “I have spent all my life under a communist regime and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man’s noblest impulses.”
conclusion + Moral mediocrity may indeed be our problem - if we manage to allow the Beatitudes to guide us, we can conquer that mediocrity.
Used at one time Conclusion - Mark Twain in his book Notebook, remarks: "If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be--a Christian.” - although his remark is too caustic, it may hit the core of the problem of Christianity—Christians are often not like the person whose name we have - the Beatitudes are wonderful meditation material - you might want to spend some time this week with what they say—and see if you really are a Christian.
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MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: "Scars to Your Beautiful" -- Alessia Cara WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL
LUKE 7:44-47
Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Gospelthink: The one who has great love will be forgiven. Do I have the love toward all that I should have?
“She just wants to be beautiful. She craves attention, she praises an image. She prays to be sculpted by the sculptor. Oh, she don't see the light that's shining deeper than the eyes can find it. Maybe we have made her blind. She tries to cover her pain, and cut her woes away 'cause covergirls don't cry after their face is made. But there's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark. You should know you're beautiful just the way you are. And you don't have to change a thing; the world could change its heart. No scars to your beautiful; we're stars and we're beautiful.”
In
the Gospels, and his interaction with people, Jesus always
considered the whole person. In this incident of the Gospels,
Jesus knew that the woman in front of him did not have a very
good opinion of herself, no doubt because everyone knew that
she was a "sinner," and therefore someone of little
importance. He asked Simon his Pharisee host whether he "saw"
the woman. His answer would be that he did. But Jesus pointed
out that he really did not. He thought of her only as a
sinner, a person who had many sins, and besides that she was
compounding her sinfulness by breaking the Jewish law,
touching a man without his permission, letting her hair down
in public and actually kissing a man's feet. PRAYER Good and gracious God, one of the most important facts for any one of us human beings is that we are good, indeed, beautiful because You have created us, and given us Your life. Give us the grace to truly understand it in our lives. Be with us, we pray.
©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
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