Becoming the Best Version of Ourselves by Living the Beatitudes

Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5

The word of God today, takes us to the ninth century before Jesus, to a holy man named Elisha. A wealthy childless woman welcomes this “holy person” into her home. This woman invites us to always be hospitable to one another; and Elisha challenges us to trust in God’s providence or care for us as we journey through life.

St. Paul’s letter describes how we have the triune life of God in us through the waters of baptism. Paul challenges us to remember who we really are: new creatures, sons and daughters of God our Father, called to live a God-like life.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus calls us to get our priorities straight.  Our first priority: to live in a relationship with God. Our second priority: to see the face of God in our fellow human beings, no matter how hidden or shabby that face of God is in them.

Jesus calls us to live a life of discipleship. Not tomorrow or some future day, but today, here and now! Then we will experience what joy and happiness are all about.
Everyone wants happiness.

Many think that if they get enough money, fame, or power, they’ll be happy. But if so, explain how so many celebrities who “had it all” sedated themselves with drugs or other addictions.

Happiness has to factor into life: work with its stresses; relationships with their tensions; disappointments versus dreams; guilt about what one did or didn’t do; health or lack thereof. And ultimately, happiness has to factor into death.

Let’s remember that at one point in his earthly ministry, many followers left Jesus. Jesus then turned to his inner circle and asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter replied, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Yes, we become happiest by mastering the basics: I suggest we easily find them in the Beatitudes. Then with God's grace, we become the best version of ourselves.

In the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the kind of moral character we should have, in our relationship with God and our relationships with one another.

First, disciples recognize that only God can fill their emptiness.  That’s what it means to be poor in spirit. We needn’t try to fill ourselves with earthly things. Disciples recognize who they are: fragile creatures whom an awesome Creator gifted with life. We realize our good fortune to be alive and are grateful and we owe this awesome Creator praise and worship
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Disciples yearn for healing from their brokenness and know only God can heal. They are gentle, considerate and unassuming. Disciples, above all, hunger for a right relationship with God.

The next beatitudes have to do with our relationships with one another.

Fortunate are they who forgive wrongs done to them and let go of their anger and resentment. God will be merciful to them. Fortunate are the pure in heart, who have integrity, openness, and authenticity in their relationships; they will see God face to face. Fortunate are they who are ready to suffer rather than betray their conscience, who try to do the right thing in all situations.
And finally, fortunate are they who don’t stir up conflict but try to be at peace with God, with themselves, and with others.

I pray that God will grace us to live the beatitudes so that we will become the best version of ourselves, disciples of the Master, always living in a right relationship with God and each other. Amen!

Life, Liberty, Happiness

The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5: 1-11

On the Fourth of July, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That document proclaims these truths: “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The word of God speaks to those principles. For example, in the 9th century before Jesus, God called Elisha to succeed Elijah as a prophetic voice. Elisha answered God’s call with a “yes.” He didn’t know how life would unfold; he simply trusted in God.

God calls us to live a life of discipleship. Not yesterday or sometime in the future, but today!

We may sometimes judge others, like James and John in today’s Gospel, who wanted to obliterate two Samaritans for their lack of hospitality. But Jesus rebukes the disciples and continues to Jerusalem. On his way, someone asks to follow Jesus. Jesus’s reply indicates discipleship is making God your first priority.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Galatia, proclaims that Jesus has freed us from our worse selves (the vices of our dark side) so that we can be our better authentic selves (in a life of virtue). Yes, the Spirit of God lives and moves and breathes within us so that we can become our authentic selves. Paul may ask, how are we using that liberty?

This insight of St. Paul’s intrigues me. Freedom to be ourselves is what joy and happiness are all about. Everybody wants happiness. Many think that if they get enough money, fame, or power, they’ll be happy. But if so, explain how some celebrities who “had it all” sedated themselves with drugs. Happiness has to factor into life, work, relationships, and ultimately death.

Bishop Robert Barron, of “Word on Fire” fame, cites Michael Jordan as an example of someone who became his happiest not by playing any way he wanted but by mastering the basics.
So too with us. Mastering the basics of discipleship with Jesus.

Yes, we become our happiest by mastering the basics (e.g., the beatitudes). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the kind of character we should have. The first beatitudes (or attitudes) focus on our relationship with God. The next steps, our relationships with one another.

Disciples recognize only God can fill their emptiness. That’s what it means to be poor in spirit. An awesome Creator gifted us with life. Disciples realize their fortune to be alive and are grateful. They know only God can heal and gift them with eternal life. They are gentle, considerate and unassuming. Disciples, above all, hunger for a right relationship with God.

Next: our relationships with one another. Fortunate are they who forgive and let go of anger and resentment. Happy are they who are pure in heart, who have integrity in their relationships; they will see God face to face.

And fortunate are they who are ready to suffer rather than betray their conscience, who try to do the right thing in all decisions in life. Now that’s a worthy pursuit.

Hidden in Good Friday was Easter Joy

Rubens, the Resurrection of Christ

In the Gospel according to Mark, two disciples, James and John, argue over the privilege of status in “the age to come” without realizing the cost of discipleship here and now. Jesus says: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” That is, the cup of suffering. Jesus concludes: to be a disciple is to serve others. Serving, not lording, is what leadership is all about in our faith community. Good leadership, many would argue, is a potent combination of good strategy and moral character, that is, working to achieve goals for the greater common good and at the same time preserving one's integrity.

Jesus, completely divine and yet completely human like ourselves, through his horrific death and glorious resurrection, re-established our relationship with God. Our relationship with God and one another is at the heart of Christianity.

Hidden in every Good Friday can be Easter joy. Think about it.

Someone loses a job or home, or is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or sees a relationship unravel, or realizes a loved one has an addiction. The family tries, as best it can, to deal with this “cross” and thereby brings hope, healing, forgiveness and resurrection to their life.

Or a student can’t understand a calculus problem. The teacher, who wants to go home after a long week, patiently walks the student through the problem. After a lot of work and patience, the “lights come on.”

The point is we sometimes find ourselves stuck in a situation – our problems may batter and even overwhelm us. Yet faith challenges us to remember that good ultimately will conquer evil, love transforms hate, light shatters darkness. The ministry of Jesus did not end in the tragedy of the cross but in the triumph of the Resurrection.

In his book “The Night,” a memoir of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Elie Wiesel describes how the SS marched all the inmates outside and there hung a youngster – as a warning not to try an escape. As the youngster hung dying, Elie Wiesel, a youngster himself, heard a voice say: Where is God now?

This is an eternal question. The entire planet yearns for God’s healing grace. There is of course no satisfactory answer to the mystery of suffering and evil. Suffering does sometimes result from immoral behavior, from the misuse of freedom, and from a universe in progress, to paraphrase St. Paul’s letter to the Romans.

But ultimately, how respond to suffering? First, remember that God is always near us, forever bringing us to fuller life. Chisel in our memories the words of Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her infant…and, even if she does, I will never forget you.”

Second, remember that the mystery of suffering can have healing and redemptive power. Why do I say that? Because Jesus, through the mystery of his own passion in Gethsemane, death on Calvary, and resurrection from the tomb, re-established the relationship we had at the beginning with God.

Yes, our inescapable aches and pains, borne with love, can be redemptive, can bring forth new life in ourselves and in others. The sufferings of Jesus did precisely that.

We can bring Easter hope to someone's "Good Friday" by reaching out with a helping hand, a listening ear, or an encouraging word.