4th Sun OT, Year A January 29, 2017
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
Like a god! We could almost say that the word for “blessed” could be translated like that. For the ancient Greeks, the word that Jesus uses here – makarios – was primarily used to describe their gods. Only the gods were fortunate enough to be immortal, to be able to escape the inevitability of death and the sorrow it brings. Only the gods could be truly happy, fortunate, and blessed.
But not so for Jesus. You have heard the beatitudes so much that I wonder, do you realize how shocking this is? Makarios – blessed – was a word for the gods, or at least those with extreme social privilege, and this obscure Jewish preacher makes his first sermon a series of blatant contradictions. The poor in spirit, the meek, the mourning, those who are persecuted? How can they compare with the rich, the powerful, and the comfortable? Of course, Jesus’ audience was Jewish, not Greek, but the contradictions remain because even the Jews figured that happiness and God’s favor could be found in wealth, power, and comfort.
No, Jesus’ magna carta, the beatitudes, open us to a radically new perspective. Unlike the 10 commandments of the Old Law, this cornerstone of the New Law doesn’t actually take the form of commandments, but divine praise. Jesus does not say “be poor in spirit,” but “blessed are the poor in spirit” as if to make an observation rather than to issue an order. The blessings are stated in the present tense; even when the beatitudes describe a future like “they will be comforted,” the blessing, the happiness, the good fortune, is already present.
Right from the start, Jesus is pointing us toward the contradiction of the cross, the paradox of losing one’s life to save it, the mystery of a divine reversal of fates. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It is not the same thing as material poverty, but it is also not just an inward detachment from material goods. The kind of poverty being described here is the poverty of total dependence; of relying entirely on someone else. That someone else is God himself, whose love and grace we should want, and in fact need, in the same way we want and need oxygen.
It is a true humility to accept that not even the slightest part of our possessions or even our own good qualities are actually ours, but rely entirely upon God. Breathing in this divine reality of loving dependence becomes a foundation for the other beatitudes. “Blessed are they who mourn…” who mourn because they have tasted the goodness of the Lord in their dependence; now they see with sorrow how much the world does not know that love. And they see the grim reality of death – a reality that only exists because of sin. This kind of blessed mourning is sorrowful because it knows what is truly good. But it is a hopeful mourning, moved to love and a deeper trust of God precisely because it exposes the transience of this world.
That mournful awareness of evil in this world in turn enables a true meekness. “Blessed are the meek.” Being meek is not simply being pushed around, but rather a firm and courageous commitment to always return good for evil, love for hatred. The meek refuse to engage in the wicked use of force because they know their dependence on the God who is love and the fruitless pain caused by recourse to evil. Of course, the meek do not simply abide evil, but desperately hunger and thirst for righteousness to be done according to the divine plan. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Without ever abandoning their poverty of spirit and meekness, these hungry ones diligently work for what is truly just in the eyes of God, even as they admit that they will never reach perfect justice in this life and by their own power.
What this meek hunger does do, however, is lead them to a brilliant exercise of mercy. “Blessed are the merciful.” This is because, even though justice is often outside our reach, we always have the power to forgive those who harm us, to invite them into the healing love that we ourselves know and depend upon. Such a zealous mercy leads to a purity of heart because it frees us from grudges and conniving plots. “Blessed are the pure of heart.” Such purity stems also from hungering for true righteousness, seeing the false promises of mere pleasure.
That purity of heart, with its clear vision of the God who is love, allows one to seek genuine peace for themselves and others. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The only way to make peace is to recognize God’s design and to work diligently at following it. This vision sees through the false promises of victory through power. Sadly, when the world begins to recognize the image of God in his peace-making children, it reacts with persecution in hatred. “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” The revelation of God convicts many of their own wickedness and they’d rather kill the messenger than change their hearts.
This revelation of God is none other than Jesus Christ himself, who is the perfect model of the beatitudes. When Christ begins his sermon on the mountain, he did not invoke God. He was not like Moses who received the 10 commandments and handed them on. No, Jesus opened his mouth and began to speak with authority because the beatitudes come directly from him. That is why, when we live the other eight beatitudes, we will be insulted and persecuted for the sake of Jesus Christ – in living these out, we are formed into the image of Christ whom the world hates. Truly “blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and [slander] you because of me.”
And at last we come to the only direct command. “Rejoice and be glad.” Commanded to rejoice. Why? Because we are so easily stunned by this change of perspective, by this paradox of love that is the cross. All this time, humanity has dreamt of a true blessedness, a fortunate happiness that only the gods could possibly have. All this time, the blessedness we thought we wanted was a blessedness that is aloof from poverty, sorrow, and death. But that was a weak blessedness, one that avoided these things because it could not survive in their presence.
And yet, when it finally comes to pass that we can be blessed, that we can in fact become like the one true God, we find that this blessedness does not merely escape our littleness, does not merely avoid death, suffering, and injustice… no, it marches straight into its jaws and not only survives, but actually flourishes; the blessedness of Jesus Christ conquers it completely and transforms it. It is a joy so unexpected, so strange, so beyond what we could’ve hoped for… that we actually have to be reminded to “rejoice and be glad, for [our] reward will be great in heaven.”