FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: TENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

Jesus did not preach the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1 to 5:37) to the “crowds,” who were not ready for it, but to a smaller group, his “disciples.” They were to absorb his “New Law” and pass it on to others. Their special status was not so much a privilege as a preparation for ministry. He began with the “Beatitudes.”

Invitation:

Jesus calls us “the salt of the earth, the “light of the world.” He invites us to, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” To accept that call we need to be, not just disciples, “students” of his New Law, but priests by Baptism, consecrated and committed to the ministry of giving expression to Christ’s truth and love.

Our faith: How many of these statements do you believe? And live?

Matthew 5: 1-12: The “poor in spirit,” in every social condition, are those who, deeply realize they haven’t “got it made.” They are “blessed” because their recognized inadequacy opens them to accept the “kingdom of heaven.”

If we open our eyes and “mourn” — by letting ourselves be afflicted by what is wrong with the world and frankly facing our own sins and sorrows, our mortality and fears — we will be “comforted” by deeper truth, by promises we can rely on.

The “blessed” on this earth are those who are avid in the pursuit of holiness; who have made this the ruling priority in their lives. They are better off than those focused on “success,” getting educated for affluence, achieving social acceptance, earning promotions or financial security.

Matthew 5: 13-16: Jesus is counting on us to “restore the flavor” to all the people who have lost their taste for “religion.” We can only do that by letting the light and joy of his truth shine out through us by giving expression to it in our words and actions.

Matthew 5: 17-19: In John and Jesus prophetic courage was purified of violence. The true “witnesses” to the faith are not those who stamp out evil in others by force or power, but those who offer themselves as “priests in the Priest” and “victims in the Victim” to suffer and even die in testimony to their belief

Matthew 5: 20-26: The key to the New Law is its call to live on the level of God. We break the commandment, “You shall not murder,” whenever we choose not to look at others with the same respect and love God has for them.

Matthew 5: 27-32: To even look at anyone with lust is “adultery” because in Jesus’ New Law we must not look at anybody except with the same love God has.

Matthew 5: 33-37: In the New Law every word we speak should be as sacred, reliable and life-giving as the words of God himself, because we are divine.

Decisions:

Be the light of the world. Look on the face of God until his face shines in you.

Make God’s life visible in you by thinking, speaking and loving like God