“Cursed is the man who trusts in mere mortals.” Wow, that pretty much sums up my whole life. It is amazing to think that all we have trusted in is a curse. Does that ring true in our lives? Have we only trusted in ourselves and our strength or do we really trust in God? If we trust in God, we need to surrender to God. The Beatitudes are commonly known among us. Most of us would be able to quote one or two and have an idea of them, but have we ever looked closely at them and see how they apply in our lives? That is, how many ways are we considered blessed?
Blessed are the poor. Check no.
Blessed are you who are hungry. Nope.
Blessed are you who weep now. No once again.
Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Well, maybe a little, not too often, I mostly hang out with nice people.
Hmmm, the Beatitudes don’t seem too much fun anymore for me. My life is not too blessed by God. I guess we are probably looking for a silver lining or a way that this can be interpreted that will make it so that I don’t have to change my life.
But I don’t think that is the heart of the Gospel, to justify me where I am. The Gospel is meant to challenge me, to free me, to sunder and divide, to prune that branch to bear more fruit. The Gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted. It speaks in bold terms calling us to rise up and live wildly again. It calls us to see that we don’t have the power to follow it by our own strength. We need God. Do we ever need God to live this way voluntarily, to embrace a life of trust in God.
What does the poor man do that God can bless him versus someone with a comfortable life like me? He trusts. The poor man is not blessed because he is poor, he could be poor and miserable and not trusting anyone. The poor, more likely, will trust in God because the poor man cannot trust in his riches. The rich man has a curse because he can easily be fooled into thinking his riches will save him and make him happy and that he doesn’t need God to save him. This is why is it important to make acts of trust with your money so that it doesn’t become your god and you its slave. If you are thinking that all you need is another 25%, then you are a slave. Freedom comes from trusting in God. If your identity is in your wealth and what you have versus being a beloved son or daughter of God, you are a slave and your life is not blessed. Blessed is the one who can acknowledge they are poor so that God is their riches.
Blessed are the hungry. Once again, is there something wrong with feasting? No, only if we are always feasting and stuffing ourselves. We should respect our bodies and creation by fasting at times. Also by feeding others who are in need. I think all of us can attest when we look after others we feel blessed that we can do such a thing. Our lives are blessed by blessing others.
Weeping. Do we have to be sad? I am not sure that it is part of the Gospel to be sad, but it is part of the Gospel to be real, to avoid over entertaining ourselves which is like being distracted from our purpose. We need to stop that distraction and ask God to make us real and serious about things that matter in our lives. We often avoid hard emotions. It is wise to have days where we give up distraction – games, media, cell phones – and see how we do. Ask questions on those days. Lord, how am I doing in fulfilling your will in my life? Lord, how could my life bless others and be a greater blessing for my family?
What about the persecuted for righteousness sake? Anything we love we will have to suffer for. If we do not choose to suffer, we will suffer in ways that will really hurt in our lives. We have to share the Good News or we won’t attain Heaven.
I admit that it is hard to give up being entertained, to give up relying on money, to give up making our lives comfortable, to willingly embrace uncomfortableness. Sometimes it will feel impossible to go this far and, like I mentioned at the beginning, it is meant to feel that way because salvation comes from surrendering to God and letting Him be the power.
However, there is a way to surrender that is easy. There is an expert in surrendering who is willing to guide us and is waiting to guide us. You can try on your own if you want and see how hard, if not impossible, it is. This true guide though, this sure guide, who has helped many to become saints is with us today.
I am speaking of the total consecration to the Blessed Mother. No one is a greater saint than her because no one surrendered so fully. I encourage you to do the 33 Days to Morning Glory program. After the Sunday morning Mass, we will host the retreat. Usually you do the consecration on a Marian Feast and the next one is the feast of the Annunciation, March 25th. If you are to do the program, you would start on February 20th on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. We who have gone through the program will make our promises that day. As a special bonus, this time we will be doing the retreat after the Sunday morning Mass if you would like to attend. This is the easiest way to surrender and experience the blessings mentioned in the Gospel.