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Gospel: Matthew 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.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the most popular platforms on social media today is “X,” formerly known as Twitter. The genius of Twitter is that it allows you to post whatever is on your mind in 160 characters or less.
For example, someone recently posted, “Congratulations to the astronauts who left earth today. Good choice.”
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus preaches his first – and most famous – public sermon, known as the Beatitudes, boiling God’s vision for humanity down into a few pithy “tweets.” With each tweet, he turns the values of the world upside down, or we might say, right side up.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers.”
“Blessed are the pure of heart.”
Even, “Blessed are you when they persecute you because of me.”
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To a person without faith, each of these may seem like a “how to” on becoming a doormat; they’ll get you nowhere in a dog eat dog world, because Jesus is telling us that up is down and down is up.
But that’s precisely the point. Maybe it’s the world, not us, that has its logic twisted, because everything that Jesus teaches us boils down to radical love of God and neighbor. This is the path to authentic peace and shared human happiness.
Not, “might makes right.”
But, love conquers all.
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Which of the Beatitudes speaks most personally to me today? And how might I try putting it into practice?
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If you try, then blessed will you be.
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Image credits: (1) Twitter, Vecteezy (2) Sermon on the Mount, Carl Bloch (3) Letters to Josep