Wednesday of 23rd Week, uneven numbered year
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, you shall have your fill. Blessed are you who are weeping now; you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, drive you out , abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of man.”
All that goes to make up unhappiness for mankind -human deception, despair of death etc, Jesus has freed us from all these aspects of our lives. it is by taking upon himself all these contradictions, situations of failure, brokenness, descent into hell, even so far as death itself, that ’the prince of this world’ is taken down from its throne’ by Jesus. Thanks to God’s grace, all the painful events of our lives, the places of contradiction, when united to Christ, continue the work of Christ’s Salvation. This will, as far as the world is concerned, and also as far as our human reasoning is concentred, remain folly and scandalous. We certainly do need to defend ourselves from all that makes humanity suffer, turning it into something vile, and we do this in Christ. “The cross is folly for the Jews, a scandal for the Greeks, for us it is Wisdom from God.’ says Saint Paul ! It is Wisdom for those who start to follow Jesus, following Jesus on the Way of his Cross, and this means first and foremost to dwell in love and to follow him on his way. ’Blessed are the poor’, says Jesus, ’for the Kingdom of God is yours.’, because your riches are this reign of Love being accomplished in you. ’Blessed poverty’ which opens up the heart to God’s gifts. This, and this alone, is the source of true Joy. Our origin truly is in the Heart of God. In his immense love for us, Jesus became the Saviour by the Cross, and we can follow Him on this path of our brothers’ salvation!”Blessed are you when people hate you. Rejoice, when that day comes and dance for joy- look! your reward will be great in Heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets."
Jesus leaves ’the happiness in Heaven’, a happiness beyond all happiness and he comes down to earth, as far as hell, to open up for us the way to return to His Father. The Father’s paternity envelops all his children with tenderness,
keeping them in all things. Jesus, who remains always in his Father, accomplishes the mission which he has been given. The Holy Spirit sustains Him and has him accomplish the Mission to save us.Our own calling joins that of Jesus, who comes to seek us deep down in our misery. Blessed are we if we know how to cry with those who cry, when the God’s smile will have triumphed over all our fears, and when we shall taste the joy of having free hearts, being close to Him. It will be the Joy of those who love and who know that they are loved, and so we shall laugh in the Light of our God. When we celebrate Jesus’ Beatitudes, we confront them with our very life. And so we are there, faced with the unknown, an unknown that can hurt us, something unexpected which can be a very painful experience.The Way of Jesus is a Way of the Cross , opening us up to the Life of the Father. He has ’healed’ and shed light upon everything that is painful in our lives : all that is contradictory and oppressive. Jesus went into this mystery of iniquity so as to free us by his humanity, nailed on the wood before all to see! It is an offering up of ourselves which allows Jesus to accomplish his Will in us.
“But alas for you who are rich : you are having your consolation now. Alas for you who have plenty to eat now ; you shall go hungry. Alas for you who are laughing now you shall mourn and weep. Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
Why are rich people unhappy? Jesus had some well-off friends : Matthew and Zacchaeus were rich. Martha and Mary had resources and Jeanne, who followed the troop of disciples, was Kouzes’s wife, Herod’s intendant. They are unhappy because Jesus said to them : ’You have already received your reward.’ For Jesus, the one who is rich is the one who doesn’t expect anything any more from God, because he has closed his hands on what he owns, having placed ’all his consolation’ on material security. It means to no longer have this space of desire within oneself which God alone can fill, this wound of hope which God alone can heal, by always fanning our hope. In order to save us, Jesus was considered ’cursed’ by God Himself. He invites us to take to heart our sisters and brothers ’ salvation. He wants to give us an overflowing Love that gives back hope. If we dwell in the Love of Jesus, offering up suffering, the accepted contradictions will have a price for God, they will become ’a way of the Cross’ that gives life. “Blessed are you!” says Jesus!