Gospel:

Luke 6:17, 20-26

"Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.  And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:  'Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.  Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!  Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.  For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.  But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.  Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.'"

Today's Gospel account from Luke is a reading of the beatitudes.  The beatitudes are a message from Jesus that seems to be an aberration in today's world.  Who can love their enemy?  Blessed are the poor; blessed are you when people hate you because of me; blessed are the meek, and woe to the rich.  Do these messages seem out of phase with today's world?  I have read these beatitudes many times and I hear the comment that I do not think Jesus really meant these for us.  However, could it be that we miss the point of the beatitudes because of our perception on who God is and who Jesus is for us?  Perhaps, if we go back in history the beatitudes might be more relevant for us. 

Throughout early Hebrew history, the Hebrews sought to communicate with God face-to-face.  They sought a God who would express his feeling and allow them to express their feelings.  In other words, they wanted a God who had a face, a God who was a person, a God with whom they could have a relationship.

For most of the Old Testament, God was the God of creation, the God of power and might, who conversed with the great Patriarchs but not with the common people.  Exodus 33:11 relates how Moses spoke to God face-to-face but at the end of that Chapter we find Moses imploring God to "Show me your glory."  God's response was that "you cannot see my face; for man cannot see me and live. . .  I will pass by you and you can see my back but my face shall not be seen.

If the people wanted to be closer to God and to have a relationship with him, they were to build a temple that contained the artifacts of God's manifestation, primarily the Ark of the Covenant.  Once Solomon completed the Temple, only the High Priest could enter into the sacred Holy of Holies and that was but once a year.  No close relationship here.

The Jews then wanted to have a King who would represent them to God and everything would be all right.  After Saul, David and Solomon, the Monarchy was split into Northern and Southern Kingdoms and still, a close relationship was not established.  Nevertheless, they had the Temple as the center of worship. 

Before the Assyrians captured the Northern Kingdom, an interesting story about God's power was related in 1 Kings.  In the great challenge of the prophet Elijah against the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, "My God against your Gods," the Lord displayed his power and might when he sent down fire to consume the holocaust offering by Elijah.  The Lord's fire came down and consumed the holocaust, wood, stones, and dusts, whereas, Baal and Asherah failed to show their might.  This show of power by the Lord resulted in the death of 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.  Then, after that show of strength, Elijah had to flee from Queen Jezebel and after being rejuvenated by the Lord, he was instructed by the Lord to go to Mount Horeb.  After a journey of 40 days and nights, the Lord instructed Elijah to "go outside a cave and stand at a particular location on the mountain before the Lord."  Elijah was ecstatic that he might see the Lord and now the Lord would be passing by.  Wind came with tremendous power, then earthquake with great force and fire with much destruction but the Lord was in none of these.  After the fire, Elijah heard a tiny whispering sound.  That was the Lord!

After the Babylonians captured and exiled the Jews in Judea, the Monarchy was no more.  The Temple was destroyed and the Jews went to the synagogues for their relationship with God.

In the New Testament, the Jews expected a powerful Messiah to come and take care of the Romans but were disappointed that God would choose to come down to earth and unite Heaven and Earth as a small defenseless child.  In the child Jesus, the defenselessness of God is apparent.  He comes with no weapons and only wishes to convert people's hearts from within.  This sort of Messiah was unacceptable to the Pharisees.  Nevertheless, Jesus said, "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of God."

At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and announced, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."  He identifies Jesus as a lamb, the Lamb of God.  Already, this title prefigured what sort of life and death Jesus would suffer.  We will iterate this in today's Mass, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

Then, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and told them, "I have given you a model, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”  Jesus said, "You have faith in God, have faith in me also.  In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places and where I am, you may also be.  Where I am going, you know the way."  Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?"  Jesus replied, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me!"  In the Mass, we accentuate this at the "Through Him, with Him and in Him . . . "

Philip asked, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."  Then Jesus responded with a most astounding declaration, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father!"

Imagine, after the destruction of the Temple, which was a symbol or shadow of a manifestation of the divine, Jesus, himself, is the face of God.  This is not a symbol or shadow or copy but the reality of God in this world.  However, when we see the face of Jesus, we see the face of Jesus in his Passion.  We see the face of the meek, of the poor, and/or the abused. 

In today's Gospel reading of the beatitudes, what might be regarded by some as an aberration, is Jesus teaching that is consistent with God's plan from the beginning of salvation history.  In the Mass, the God who created the universe has come to us as a lamb.  The lamb that lets itself be killed without complaint is a symbol of meekness; blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  This is why we come to Mass--so that we can listen to the Lamb, who tells us that he has forgiven our sins and prepared a place for us.  This is surely the most exciting news in the whole of history; there is no greater joy than this.  It is the sacrifice of him who becomes the "Lamb slain" that holds heaven and earth together.  This is the God that has a face-to-face relationship with us through Jesus and it is a relationship of Love.  This is the meaning of the beatitudes and it has great relevancy for us. 
Thanks be to God!