Word to the Wise
Monday, June 9, 2014 - Monday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 17:1-6 and Matt 5:1-12]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.......[Matt.]
The long Easter celebration has ended with the feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit! "Ordinary Time" picks up again at Week 10, but it does so with a wonderful consideration of what could be called a true "catechism" of the faith: the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew! The gospel scripture for the next few days will be taken from this.
It is important, to begin with, to note the setting of the Sermon on the Mount. The Gospel of Matthew in general presents Jesus as a new Moses with a "new law." The law of Moses was given on a mountain, so Jesus is shown on a mountain. The new law of Christ is given by a teacher with authority. In Jesus' time, a great teacher sat down and his disciples sat at his feet! So, Jesus sits down with his disciples all gathered around him. He begins with what has become very familiar to Christians, "the beatitudes."
When I visited the Holy Land in 1988, the "mount of the beatitudes" was one of the places our group visited. It was a beautiful day and the "mount" overlooks the Sea of Galilee. It would be very easy to "romanticize" the words of Jesus in such a lovely setting. But the beatitudes pack a punch! They are not just pious descriptions of the meek, the poor, the peacemakers, etc.. Nor are they glorifications of suffering! Rather they are a promise from God, given in the person of a teacher who can guarantee God's care for those who are mentioned. They are the ones to whom the gospel comes as a liberation, and the disciples must bring the message! As the Sermon on the Mount unfolds, we who are Jesus' disciples and students have some challenging lessons to learn! AMEN