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When
Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to
him. He began to teach them, saying,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they
will be
comforted. Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the land. Blessed are
they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they
will be
shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of
heart, for they will see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the
sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
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"What's
wrong with the world, mama? People livin' like they ain't got no mamas.
I think the whole world is addicted to the drama, only attracted to
things that'll bring you trauma. Overseas, yeah, we try to stop
terrorism, but we still got terrorists here livin' in the USA. But if
you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to
discriminate, and to discriminate only generates hate, and when you
hate then you're bound to get irate. Madness is what you demonstrate,
and that's exactly how anger works and operates. Man, you gotta have
love just to set it straight. Take control of your mind and meditate.
Let your soul gravitate to the love. People
killin’, people dyin’, children hurt and you hear
them cryin’. Can you practice what you
preach, and would you turn the other cheek. Father
help us. Send some guidance from above ‘cause people got me,
got me questionin’
where is the love, where is the love."
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The
tragedy of our Christian world is that we believe that we have the
guidance
"from above," from God through Jesus, and yet, we do not follow through
with
it. We say that we are Christians,
people of love, and yet we perpetrate heinous crimes against love. The
song “Where Is the Love” from the rock
group Black Eyed Peas lists some of those crimes: the terrorism that we
have in
our own country, the gangs, the KKK, racial discrimination, hatred,
uncontrollable anger, bombing others, chemical warfare, harming
children,
worshiping money—all “negative
images.” “Where is the love,” they ask, or where
is the guidance from above.
The guidance from above, of course, comes from Jesus, the God-man who came to show us the way. Perhaps there is no better place to find the guidance he wanted to give than in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel, a sermon that begins with the Beatitudes. Within the Sermon, Jesus announces a new kingdom, a kingdom that will be very different from a kingdom this world might set up, a kingdom that is built on caring for others rather than taking advantage of them. Our problem is one that has been around for a long time. We know what Jesus’ guidance is, and we know what the followers of Jesus, including ourselves, should do. The problem is actually doing it. And when we do not do it, that’s when, as the group Black Eye Peas sings, “people got me questionin'.” The question is whether we really have the love we should have, or is it just a fake? |
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THOUGHT
What are the three or
four most important
characteristics of the “guidance” from Jesus?
PRAYER Good and gracious God, you teach
us through your Son’s words and actions. Help us want to
learn from him, and then give us the grace to live our
lives according to his word. Be with us,
we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |