Let me begin by apologizing for not writing on this blog
for over a year. I could offer several excuses, like how crazy-busy my life has
been, but none of that really matters. The point is that have returned to
writing and will hopefully be less infrequent. We’ll see.
During my hiatus, a number of post ideas percolated in my
mind. Our socio-political climate no doubt calls for a prophetic voice, and I
had thought of writing about the prophet Jeremiah – a man who was persecuted
because he dared to preach that Jerusalem and the Temple were not as invincible as
people believed. His message was not “Make Judah Great Again” but rather “Make
Judah Humble Vassals of Babylon Now, Lest They Kick Our Butts Later.” Spoiler
alert: They didn’t listen to Jeremiah, and Babylon did kick Judah’s butt.
Another post I considered was a reflection on the Golden
Calf and nationalism with some attention drawn to the American flag, but I
thought that might be too contentious. Perhaps another day. There are, however,
crises in our society that we need to face. In the midst of disturbing
atrocities against humanity, xenophobia, injustice, prejudices, and systemic
racism and sexism, one cannot be silent, and fears of dissidence must be put
aside.
That being said, I don’t believe the answer to the evils from
which the world suffers is found in antagonizing one another. I love as much as
the next person a good joke, meme, or comedic video that pokes fun at
ideologies, parties, and candidates which I oppose. And we can all laugh and
kee-kee, but it doesn’t really bring any healing to our broken world or the
divisions which tear us apart. Nor do I think that it changes the minds of
those with whom we disagree. If anything, it just makes them dig their heels
even firmer into their convictions (misguided and perhaps corrupt though I
believe them to be) and just perpetuates the cycle of animosity. Even now I
have to restrain myself from posting a Golden-Calf-related political cartoon.
I’ve been asking myself what kind of biblical wisdom we
can invest in that rises above the hotbed of social and political antagonism yet
still challenges all of us to change our hearts. But the thing about the
Scriptures is that, as the Pontifical Biblical Commission states, “… the Bible
does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to each and every problem.”[1]
The Bible doesn’t tell us how to vote; it doesn’t tell us what to do about
automatic rifles; and it doesn’t employ the same legal proceedings regarding
citizenship and immigration as our contemporary laws do. This
isn’t to say, however, that we cannot look to these sacred texts to find
guiding principles and moral direction in the choices we make or the way we
live our lives.
Moreover,
the Scriptures can and have been abused to justify some of the worst crimes
against humanity – everything from systemic injustice against women and the
economically poor, to slavery and the holocaust! The devil, himself,
manipulates the Scriptures when he tempts Jesus in the desert. Therefore, one
must tread carefully when approaching these sacred texts, and personal predispositions–
both the morally just and the morally wrong – should be consciously examined
and maybe even checked at the door. The Bible is certainly a source
of wisdom for our private and common moral living, but it is one that must be
discerned prudently and kneaded with faith and prayer, one that should be digested so that it nourishes and challenges us – not unlike the
scroll which John of Patmos eats. It is sweet as honey
to the taste but turns the stomach sour (Rev 10:10).
So as I
pondered what part of Scripture is most needed in our times – and surely many
cases can be made for any number of biblical passages or themes – I felt moved
toward the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-26).
These verses
of the New Testament are at once some of the most familiar and the most obscure.
I can think of several common hymns which invoke the Beatitudes,
and surely I’m not the only who gets these songs stuck in their head. Yet,
for as much as we hear them, say them, or sing them, how well do we understand them – or better yet,
understand their significance?
There are two
collections of Beatitudes in the Gospels: Matthew’s version and Luke’s. They
definitely bear similarities to one another, but there are pointed differences
as well. Matthew’s version is longer and more general; Luke’s is more direct
and is contrasted with a list of woes. These sayings are at the beginning of
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matthew/Luke). As such, they hold
a primary place in both Gospels’ greatest collection and summation of Jesus’
ethical and religious teaching. That makes them pretty darn important!
According to New Testament
scholar, Raymond Brown, “For Christians, next to the Ten Commandments as an
expression of God’s will, the eight
beatitudes… have been revered for expressing succinctly the values on which
Jesus placed priority.”[2]
Particularly in Matthew’s version, in which Jesus delivers his
famous sermon on a mountaintop, Christ is depicted as a new Moses, the great lawgiver. So it’s not without reason to say
that the Beatitudes form a sort of new law – or better yet, the perfect fulfillment
of the law. St. Augustine says of the Sermon on the Mount that one “will find
in it, so far as regards the highest morals, a perfect standard of the Christian
life.”[3]
He then treats the Beatitudes as a road map for his moral theology. With this
in mind, I wonder why there isn’t more talk about the Beatitudes as a standard
of morality today. It appears that they bear as much (if not more) significance
as the Ten Commandments in terms of how we should be conducting our lives.
Perhaps it is because it’s easier
to do or avoid specific, concrete actions as articulated in the Ten Commandments.
Honoring one’s father and mother and not stealing, killing, or committing
adultery seem, if nothing else, a little clearer than being poor in spirit or
clean of heart. Whereas the Ten Commandments are presented to us as just that,
commandments and laws about what we ought to do and not do, the Beatitudes
offer vaguer statements about the kind of people who are truly blessed (i.e. happy, which is the ultimate goal of
morality). The people who have attained or are at least closer to attaining
their moral end of happiness are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek,
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of
heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness or for
the sake of Christ. Not surprisingly, Jesus has flipped our assumption about
what brings us true happiness on its head.
Now, I am not a moral theologian,
nor am I an expert on the Beatitudes, and I don’t nearly have as much time or
as many resources to do a lot of research as I did when I began Bible Codega.
However, I believe that a concerted effort to ponder and reflect upon these poignant
verses of Christ’s teaching is needed in our times. So consider this a preamble
to what I hope will be a series of posts on each of the Beatitudes.
There probably aren’t any
immediate answers to the ills of our world, and so many of them seem
insurmountable anyway. But we shouldn’t feel discouraged. It is within each one
of us, in our universal call to holiness, to daily take up the mission to be
light and dispel the darkness… beginning with our own lives and in our own
hearts. In this, living the Beatitudes might be the slow, maybe even painful,
but nevertheless healing remedy we need.
I think you know what the
Scripture recommendation is for this week: Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-26, of
course. I would encourage you, not only to read and meditate on them, but to also
memorize at least one version of the Beatitudes. They, like the Ten
Commandments, are a great way to frame an examination of conscience the next
time you celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation. Allow these verses to
permeate your heart. See what kinds of questions they provoke. How do they
challenge you? How do they confuse you? How do they comfort you?
I can’t say I’ll bring any
clarity to your questions. I hope, however, that as we journey with the
Beatitudes over the next several posts – assuming I stick to the task I have
made for myself – that our hearts might be turned more closely to God. It is already within us to confront the hatred,
violence, fears, and lies which perennially plague humanity - not with more
antagonism, but with a spirit of poverty, humility, justice, peace, and mercy.
Until next time (whenever that will be),
Peace and all good!
[1] Pontifical Biblical Commission, "The Interpretation of
the Bible in the Church," The Scripture Documents: An
Anthology of Official Catholic Teaching, ed. & trans. by Dean P.
Béchard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002), 275.
[2]
Raymond Brown, An Introduction to the New
Testament, (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 178.
[3]
St. Augustine, Our Lord’s Sermon on the
Mount, Book I, Chapter I: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106.v.ii.i.html
(By the way, I’m really sorry footnote 3 is not in MLA
format.)
