Pope Francis has made history again by inviting the Presidents of Israel and Palestine to a Prayer Summit at the Vatican. During the service, Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers were recited in English, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew. There was an Imam, a Rabbi and the Patriarch of Constantinople in attendance. “Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict; yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities,” Pope Francis declared. Pope Francis is living out what it means to be a peacemaker, as he has also consistently shown us how to live as a Christian in this day and age.
How fitting that today’s Gospel reading are the Beatitudes.
To be poor in spirit is not about utter deprivation nor about living in grinding poverty or dehumanizing misery. Being poor in spirit is being detached from material goods and possessions so that we do not succumb to envy, greed and selfishness. It is about always being willing to give and share whatever we have with others.
We mourn not because we are sad or deprived or have been denied what we need or have been wronged. We mourn because we are sinners in need of mercy and forgiveness. We mourn that we are not the persons God has made us to be – in His image and likeness. In our mourning, we seek the Lord’s comforting Presence.
Meekness is not being a doormat, allowing ourselves to be pushovers. Meekness is being able to wait for our turn and our fill. For God in His bounty has something for everyone. Meekness is not pushing others aside just to look after number one – myself. Meekness is allowing others to have their fill even when I am half afraid there might be nothing left for me in the end, trusting that God will look after my needs.
Hunger comes in many forms. Hunger for food is instinctual. But we must also hunger for food for the soul, food that will keep us alive into eternity. We must hunger for things that will feed our spirits like righteousness, truth, goodness and beauty. We must hunger for mercy for we are so much in need of it. And that being recipient of God’s mercy and forgiveness, we might also be willing and open to giving our mercy and forgiveness to others.
In the end, the beatitudes teach us our dependence on God’s love, mercy and providence. He created us and everything around us out of nothing. He can change our poverty into riches untold, our misery into happiness unending and our longings into everlasting fulfillment.
My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
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.”
Matthew 5:1-12