Christ The Servant
Catholic Church
Cold Springs, Ontario
Homily Selections
Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy is a television program described as a comedy/drama. I watch it. And perhaps should be embarrassed that I do. I would describe it mostly as a medical soap opera.
Occassionally however, it becomes profound . In an episode this year one of the female doctors was experiencing a two way confrontational discussion with her father regarding her recently disclosed lesbianism.
It should be noted that this father and daughter loved each other very much. He was intent on rescuing her from what he considered at the least was very bad judgment. Prior to this confrontation He had attempted to have her fired (or suspended) so he could take her home where he felt the loving attention of her parents would restore her judgment. When that didn’t work, he cut her off financially and when that didn’t work he traveled to the hospital where she worked along with his priest.
When they finally sat down to talk (After she had informed her father that you can’t pray away gay) Her father opened his bible and began to quote those passages that supported his genuinely held belief that homosexuality was a sure path to hell fire and damnation.
The doctor countered with Jesus.She quoted
“Jesus: A new commandment that I give to you .Let you love one another
Jesus “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone
Jesus: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
Jesus: Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God
Jesus :Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
And she finished “Jesus would be ashamed of you for judging me, he would be ashamed of you for turning your back on me.....He would be ashamed.
Her defensive arsenal contained 3 beatitudes. Let’s look at this.
At Christ the Servant, part of our Mission statement says “we are ordinary people, joyously celebrating the opportunity to follow Jesus’s radical message of unconditional love and to live the beatitudes.”
So how do we do that?
In Matt. 5:1-12, Jesus teaches the Beatitudes....The Sermon on the Mount
In the scene set by Matthew, Jesus first notices the crowd. We can imagine that He feels a great concern for each person. He understands their needs, and He wants to help them. The best teaching He can give them is one that will guide them into a more love-filled life, in which they are closer to God than ever before. Picture yourself in the crowd. He is speaking to you. He is addressing the needs you have today.
The first set of Beatitudes (verses 3-6) focuses on our relationship with God. The rest of them will center on our relationships with each other. This pattern reflects Jesus' core message: first love God with all your heart and soul and mind, and the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37).
The first four beatitudes tell us that God is the source of our happiness. When we accept into our daily lives the values of God's kingdom, we grow into a fuller relationship with Him. They are:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they shall be satisfied.
The beatitudes are simply stated, but they are profound in Meaning. They guide, They point. They teach. They show us the values that Christ cares about. These values, if followed canot only bring a believer into a state of peace and happiness, but also right into a life with God after our journey on this earth is over..
In considering the beatitudes we need to be mindful of spiritual bullies and avoid them, including the spiritual bully that lives within us. As Julia Cameron points out bullies in the name of Spirituality are really still just bullies. They do their best to destroy your spiritual autonomy and they would use the beatitudes as a fool proof way of proving your ignorance and unworthiness, your failure as a spiritual being.
Let’s look at the first Beatitude.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
1. We are "poor in spirit" when we stop placing our confidence in material security or other false gods (the kingdom of the world). By depending instead on God , we experience His power and love and faithfulness. Think of a time when you died to yourself by choosing to be poor in spirit, trusting in God when it seemed easier or more sensible to trust in the things of this world. Remember how much closer to God you felt! We have become open to receiving the love and grace and blessing of God.
It is interesting doing research on the poor of spirit. One has to wade through tons of writing that is designed to be spiritually shaming...tons of it. References to worthlessness, evil, without redemption are abundant. Spiritual bullies are at their best when musing on the poor of spirit. Their skills of spiritual exploitation are finely honed.
I spent the majority of my professional life working with people who had been so totally shamed ..emotionally, mentally , physically and spiritually that they had no sense of self. People who were convinced that their only reason for existence was to serve the needs, good or evil, of someone else. It is a long way back for people who have been this shamed, but when the journey begins to
flower, when they are able to see their own beauty as people, it is magnificent.
Well, this is what I think. If Christ really and truly dwells within us, we can never see ourselves as worthless, evil or without redemption. We must see ourselves as vessels of holiness that carry the love of Christ, whether or not we are giving access to it in our lives.
The poor in Spirit are those who know their need of God.
The second half of the Beatitudes focuses on our relationships with each other. The first three of these deal with how to live like Christ, the remaining ones show the results from that kind of living. The second half of the Beatitudes also reflects the spiritual growth that is produced by the first half. They are:
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For those of you who are thinking, “Oh my goodness, is she going to go through every Beatitude?” the answer is no, but I am going to suggest that we continue to examine the Beatitudes, either in our Homilies or in a study group so that we can understand what they are , how we feel about them, and how we can live them fully in our lives.
And so, I pass the torch to you.
MORE RECENT HOMILIES
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