"The Beatitudes" - Fr. John Riccardo

I feared that what I'm about to say might come off either irreverent or even quasi sacrilegious but I've never liked the Beatitudes I've always had an incredibly hard time with this passage maybe for three reasons one we hear it all the time and so with anything that we hear all the time at least for me it's just so easy to kind of tune out and I get lost second because usually this is either translated poorly or it's explained poorly which doesn't help and third maybe most importantly maybe I'm just so sinful I don't know that I want all these I don't know that you do either there's a couple of these that I relate to but who here is really giddy about being insulted and persecuted the world in which we live certainly is not aspiring to be pure of heart mercy for all the ways we talk about it is not something that most people give quickly especially to those who've hurt them and those are the only people who are really supposed to be merciful to so you can almost throw that one out so you're left with a couple of things that maybe we relate to so what is happening like right now what is Jesus saying to you and me right now what is he trying to convey to us and what is he trying to accomplish within us part of the problem again as I mentioned is just the way we translate this so we've dumbed down a lot of this passage it's more literally something like this Jesus sat down and he opened his mouth and began to teach them saying it's like three times he opened his mouth he began to teach them saying we've reduced all of that - he began to teach them but there's a reason why Matthew doesn't say it that way he says it three times to reiterate something like God is talking to me right now that's what he's trying to convey because every time Jesus speaks it's God addressing me one-on-one and addressing you one-on-one and he sits down because that's the position of a teacher in the ancient world and he sits down on the ground because Jesus is Lord and the earth itself is his throne and so he's trying to tell us how to live part of the problem is again what we make of this translation what does it mean to be blessed how am I supposed to relate to blessed are they who mourn I'm mourning right now I don't feel very blessed maybe some of you don't either we hear blessed and we usually think something like a feeling but that's not what Jesus is saying he's saying those who have the possession of these particular things are in an objective state they meaning to do with feelings God's not trying to tell you and me hey you should just feel really excited when you cry or when people mock you because of the gospel or if you don't have anything you possess something and because you possess this you are in an objective state it might actually be better translated as something like this those who have these things are on the way on the way we're on the way to conformity to Jesus when I first began my conversion which is still very much in process as those of you who've been in the parish a long time certainly know I got really excited when I finally identified with one of these like I think I have that one I don't have these other ones but at least I got that one so that's good and I thought the Beatitudes were we're supposed to try to identify with one of them and then you just recognize well some of these things I'm never going to have but at least I have this one and then he realized no actually I have to have them all you have to have all of these what the Beatitudes are are an MRI of Jesus's heart this is Jesus this is him disclosing to us what he is like and the only way for you and me to get into heaven the only way is to become like him which means at least in my case I have a lot of work to do and so do you probably so at least for me it helps to be realistic it's not realistic to walk out of here and go I'm gonna have all these tomorrow because that won't happen we become great we become Saints by cooperating with the grace that God gives us and being intentional and deliberate in working on concrete things that we don't yet have and then acquiring habits and then moving on to the next habit that we need to acquire so given that here's what I'd propose for most of us anyway to think about given what we're living in politically called surely and in the church right now friend of mine and I were talking the other day and we were both sharing a simple thought that we that is to say the body of Christ we sound a lot like the world our discourse with one another sounds a lot like the world we can't sound like the world a Christian can't talk like the world a Christian can't act like the world the world has nothing to give to us it has nothing that I want the Lord has invaded my life in yours so that we would give something to the world so that we would help it to encounter him to become holy to become truly human and our discourse with each other oftentimes doesn't sound human especially in social media but not just there and so the one beatitude that I would encourage many of us perhaps to start to work on is meek meek is the only word that Jesus ever uses to describe his interior life in another passage in Matthew Jesus says come to me and learn from me let me teach you how to be truly human and then he goes on to say for I am meek and humble of heart meek isn't typically a word that most of us get all excited about especially if you're a man perhaps I say meek and most of us have this image of kind of a Wallflower a pushover a doormat but Jesus was no Wallflower and he was no pushover and he was certainly no doormat meek is best understood as strength under control some of you've heard this before and perhaps on another occasion it's actually a word that was often used for breaking a horse for training a horse so I buy a horse I tell Adam come on over the house check out the horse I bought he walks over he sees the horse he goes father I think you got ripped off my boy he goes the horse is wild you can't do anything with it it's useless Michael oh you're right how did I not notice that I invite him back to the house a week later I go Adam check out the horse I nicked it it's actually a verb and Meek t' the horse it's the same horse it's got all its power but now everything is harnessed it doesn't kick it doesn't buck it doesn't bite that's Jesus Jesus is the pure power of God the one through whom the entire universe was made everything he ever does and he ever says he does out of love do you and dua is every word that comes out of your mouth uh turd in love do you kick probably especially the people at home do you bite if so maybe tonight's the night just to say Lord here's the reins of my life just like a horse if it could hand the reins to a master meek me I don't want to hurt people I don't want to snap I don't want to kick I don't want to bite I want everything I do tonight just tonight that's enough to work on to be done and said out of love and if I wake up tomorrow Lord here's the rains and meek me and then as we acquire that habit and we go on to the next be attitude and the next be attitude and the next be attitude here's the key you and I can do this we can do this because the power of God is alive in me and alive in you it won't happen by trying harder it'll happen by saying Lord I invite you into my life in a new way I can't do this on my own but you can do this in me so do it Lord take control of my tongue my thoughts my actions let it all always be under control and as you and I come forward for communion tonight and we receive Jesus into our bodies let's be conscious of what we're receiving you and I are feasting on power and he wants the result of that communion that meal to be that we like the one that we consume please pray for me that that will happen in my life and I will pray for you that it will happen tonight in yours

Channel: OLGCPlymouth

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Keywords: OLGC, Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Catholic Church, Plymouth Michigan, homily

Id: G6FIzqKE8kM

Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 02 2018