felix hominum

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh

It's been a rather difficult week or so at school for SJ.  A few times she has just decided to burst into tears in the classroom.  All the king's horses and all the king's men haven't been able to figure out why.

I suspect one of her greatest frustrations (shared by those around her) is that her processing and expressing of language is hindered.  She will sometimes be in obvious distress of some kind, but be unable to express it in a way that those around her can understand and help.

I do not know what it is.  I do know that there will come a time when she will be freed of these constraints, when the perfection of a resurrected body will enable her to express,

or perhaps the perfection of my resurrected body will enable me to hear...

no, not the (un)comfy chair!

There was in my grandmother’s farmhouse an uncomfortable chair.  No matter how you squirmed or re-arranged yourself in it, it never seemed to offer you the fullness of getting into a satisfying position.  It seemed specifically designed by the carpenter to make sure you could never relax.

I get that same feeling from this week’s gospel reading.  No matter how I squirm or re-arrange myself or soften it up with cushions from other parts of the Bible, it still prods me like a bony elbow.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

What does Jesus say?  It is pretty simple.  He tells us who has “blessing”, who has “woe”.  This is not my idea of blessing and woe, and not your idea of blessing and woe, or the world’s idea of blessing and woe.  This is Jesus’ idea of blessing and woe.  And so we should listen. 

I think my blogging for the week is planned out:  a blessing and a woe every day until Sunday.  At which time sol café will be gathering again after the field trip (and yes, we always use real wine).

looking for glory in all the wrong places

Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

A prophet, a righteous person, and a little one - sounds like the beginning of a joke.  I have sometimes wondered about this passage from Matthew's Gospel.  Is this a descending order?  Do these actions and people start at the top, as it were, and then work their way down?   Or are they on equal footing?   Or is this an inversion; building up to the point where you can see the glory in giving a cup of cold water to one the little ones as actually the highest point?

I think one of the inversions of the Kingdom of God is that the greatest glory is found in unexpected places.  You can perhaps easily recognize a prophet or a righteous person as someone whom God 'favours' (don't take that the wrong way).   But when do we stop to see the eternal value in offering the cup of water to the "little ones"?   We naturally seek the "great and the glorious" - because there is something in us that pulls us toward glory.   Trouble is, our perception has been skewed.

We have become colour blind to true glory - we cannot see where it is.   It is hidden in there, but available for all who wish to pursue it.  We chase after large shadows, and forget the blessedness of the meek.

Beatitudes VI

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

It is, I suppose, both truthful and fashionable at the same time to apply a sort of "spiritual interpretation" to this beatitude.

How and where shall the pure in heart see God?  Reflected in His created image of course, as we have opportunity to do each and every day.   The spiritual vision to see God reflected in his creatures (that would be people like you and me) is the fruit of purity of heart.   What is the connection?  My vision is clouded by my own sinfulness.   A purity or singleness of heart sees through the sin, to the image of God and the reality that each of us are called to be beloved.   I have the remarkable opportunity of seeing Christ each and every day.

"If you cannot discern Christ in your neighbour, how  will you be able to discern Him in bread and wine?"

There is also the literal sense of these words.  We will be given eyes which can see God.  I believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.   

Now we see in a glass, darkly, but then;  face to face.

L'arche celebrations

There are a few celebrations coming up in the local L'arche community.   L'arche is an international community founded on the principles of the Beatitudes;  it is a home for adults with mental and often physical disabilities.

If you want to see a Christmas pageant with a difference, I really recommend the one put on by L'arche.

ps.  If you are still wondering what to do after graduation, L'arche Edmonton is looking for assistants:  persons who can spend a year living as part of the L'arche community in one of their local homes.   You may not get to bum around Europe for a year, but you'll see a world you never dreamed of.  Trust me on this one.

Our 33rd Anniversary Celebration
Friday, November 25, 2005 @ 7 PM
St. Thomas Aquinas Hall
8410 89 street

AND

Our Annual Christmas Pageant
Friday, December 16, 2005 @ 7 PM
St. Thomas Aquinas Church
8410 89 street

refreshments will follow both events

the house I carry with me

Every fall AKW gives her English students an assignment based on the Margaret Laurence story The Sound of the Singing.   The title of the assignment is taken from a line in the story: …the house I carry with me…

It is a fascinating concept:  what is “the house I carry with me”?  The place of childhood influence and formation (for better or worse)?  The place which is home?  Or the place which, looking back, I wish had been home.  Perhaps the home I am still trying to reach - (I will return to my father's house...).

Some friends of mine have a house.  I was off to visit them earlier this week.  We had a great breakfast -  a manly breakfast of Golden Grahams (though Chuck had something made of sticks and berries…)  and buckets of coffee.  The House is a kind of intentional christian community, which I am sure they will carry with them.

There is another house in the same neighbourhood, one that I have visited a few times.  It is one of the local L’arche community houses.  I have had the pleasure of several great mealtimes at this house.  There are core members of the house (those with intellectual disabilities), and there are those who volunteer to live with them as friends, helpers, and companions.  It is an intentional christian community, based on the Beatitudes.

It is a house I carry with me.

re: chuck and mercy

Another contexted thought: After doing a bit more reflecting on Chuck's comment on Beatitudes V, one of the things that comes to mind is taking our example from God first, and then moving to human examples. What Chuck's comment made me think of is that we need to look at how God displays mercy first, and then we can learn to imitate that, rather than looking at human examples of mercy, and then try to extrapolate or elevate that to the level of God...

Beatitudes V

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

I wrap my head around this statement in so many ways.  I find myself concerned with the question of whether or not my receiving mercy is dependent on my giving mercy - as Jesus seems to have made similar statements elsewhere.  But of course when I do that I miss the whole point.  That kind of thinking is still very "me" focused.  There is also the battle against my innate sense of "justice" or "fairness".   Which as well is usually flawed. 

I can only pray that in every situation in which I find myself, my first thought would be "how can I bring mercy in this?"   Yet it is rarely my first thought.   I am a product of a culture of rights.  I delight when I get my rights, what I think is my due.

To be the kind of person who rejoices in being merciful.

What exactly is mercy? It is not the same as pity, it is akin, but not identical to compassion.   What are the conditions which make mercy possible?

First – there is power over the welfare of another.  You do not cry out for mercy from one who has no power over you – either to help or to harm.  Mercy is the Christian way of living in a relationship of power and authority.  I can have pity for one more powerful than I, over whose life I can have no influence. I cannot be merciful to such a person, for mercy implies that I have have the power to do or to act in a way that affects their life.

The good Samaritan showed mercy – he had power to act in the life of another, and he did.   The priest and the Levite who passed by the man on the road may have had pity, may even have had compassion, but they did not have mercy.  Mercy involves choice to act.

In another sense, Mercy does not necessarily have to do with what is right or just; rather, it often flies in the face of what is just and right.  In fact, it is really only to the guilty that mercy in this sense can be shown.

Beatitudes IV

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

As I get closer to the end of lent, I look to this beatitude and compare it with the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness.  Lent is a period of fasting.  Jesus fasted for 40 days, and when offered the opportunity to turn stones into bread, he refused.  “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

What do we hunger for?  What do we thirst for?  Our lives are full of desires – things we long to have, to experience, and to be.  Hunger and thirst are not “unnatural” things.  It is quite normal for us to hunger and thirst.  These are desires which are “built into us”.  But in this beatitude, Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

What does that mean for the rest of our desires?  That they will not be filled?  That there is ultimately something unsatisfying about all the other wants and desires I have in life?  We throw around the word “blessed” quite a bit.  “We’ve been blessed with good health”;  “We’ve been blessed with a certain level of income, a certain kind of house…”

Hunger and thirst come from inside me, but they are only satisfied by something outside me.  Jesus is trying to tell us something about the Christian life.

Beatitudes III

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

I have often wondered exactly what the quality of being “meek” is all about.  I think about the Magnificat – the song that Mary sang as recorded in the gospel of Luke - “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour…”

he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts
he has put down the mighty from their seat, and has exalted the humble and meek.

Contary to common wisdom, the meek are the realists.  They are contrasted by Mary with those who are proud in the imagination of their hearts.   I do not think “imagination” is used here in the positive, creative sense.  I think it is rather about having a false notion of who or what one is. 

We sometimes have a great deal of angst around issues of ‘finding ourselves” (thereby acknowledging that we are “lost”?).  The proud are not realists – they live in an imaginary world of their own making.  I can imagine myself to be a certain kind of person.  The reality of my imagining finds its limit when I bump up against real people in my life.  They tell me the truth about myself.  Hopefully, this “truth telling” is helpful.  Helpfully, this “truth telling’ is hopeful.  The truth of who I am is most evident when I bump up against The Person.  I need to know the truth of who I am before God - that is part of what we are doing this lent.

How then do I become real?

Jesus, in being meek, did not consider his own “needs” first.   

We sometimes think that the Christian life is about putting others first and ourselves second. It is not.  It is about putting others first and not keeping score to see if I came in second.  That's the example we are given.

Beatitudes II

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

A few days ago, just before we got started at the sol café, I was casually reading the front page stories from our local newspaper.  Somewhere on the bottom was an article about the latest suicide bombings in the middle east – X number of people died at location Y.  What struck me afterward was my lack of mourning for the victims – including the one who committed suicide.  The thought that was in my mind was how this might affect my proposed travel to the middle east this spring.

Why is it that those who mourn are blessed?  I think Jesus is not simply offering a promise of comfort to those of us who experience the tragedy of death in our lives (and we all do at some point).  I think Jesus is getting at something more profound – something deeper.

I mourn for those I love.  I do not mourn for those I do not love.  It is as simple as that. 

If I do not mourn at the tragedy of the death of your friend, or your brother, it is because I do not love them.  My lack of mourning is a sign that I do not love all  my neighbours as myself – I only attempt that kind of love for a select few.  I do not mourn much if I do not love much.

Remember Jesus weeping?  He wept for Lazarus – a single person he knew and loved, and he wept for Jerusalem – a whole city.  I believe this beatitude is his invitation to mourn as He mourns.  Not just for a select few neighbours who are close to me, but for all who suffer.

Beatitudes: I

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

I want to continue a few small thoughts I started last night, as we had a bit of a conversation about the beatitudes at sol café.  I have to confess that without really mentioning it, I was using these first six beatitudes as a bit of a lenten exercise.   The first part of the beatitude is the lenten part, the second part of the beatitude is the Easter part.

We sometimes ask the question “what does ‘poor in spirit’ mean”, instead of asking “who are the poor in spirit?”  While they are both important questions, it is the second which is more fundamental.  For when we discover who is poor in spirit, we will see what it means.  It is like the questions about the kingdom of heaven.  We can ask what it is, or we can ask who it is.

The Kingdom is not primarily a what, it is a who.  It is a Who.  If Jesus is the founding member of this kingdom, and by extension invites us into citizenship, then Jesus is primarily the poor in spirit, and by extension invites us to become poor in spirit. 

This Jesus emptied himself of his possessions – of his glory, of his status, of his rights, and of his life.  He was poor in spirit and rich in love.  He invites us to become poor in spirit – to empty our spirits of all those things we cling to as our “possessions”.