Homily of the Day: Sunday Gospel MT 5:1-12A When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” Homily: Good afternoon. Since Ive already preached on the subject of all souls/saints, I decided to pick another text at within our lectionary to preach on today. In keeping with this same theme of those who have gone before us, I chose Jesus sermon on the mount for a purpose. The purpose is because Jesus, in giving those blessed are those statements divulges to us what sainthood is all about. Jesus says,Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their is kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who are meek for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. Jesus lists all the blessings that come from God and explicates through this series of statements that these same blessings will come from God if you pursue Him. The reality is that you have been redeemed by God. He met you in Holy Baptism and washed you with His most precious blood. He foraged a relationship with you when you claimed your baptism as your own in Holy Confirmation. And because you have a relationship with Him, He continues to meet you day in and day out through the means of His Holy scripture and through the sacrament of His most Sacred body and His most holy blood. In truth, if you are really in tune with the Holy Spirit, through prayer, faith, and charity, then God is going to give you the desire to pray for the charisms that He listed in this Holy Sermon. You will perhaps be driven to say, Dear Heavenly Father, bless me with a spirit that is poor in pride and rich in humility. Jesus bless with a pure heart so that I can see you. Bless me Lord when I am persecuted. Give me the strength to keep my chin high and help me focus on the reward that you have prepared for me in Heaven. Ingrain within my conscience a desire to receive your mercy and forgiveness, so that I render mercy and forgiveness towards others. Jesus is the ultimate blessing and Christians being molded by Him, we are to give Him praise and adoration. So today as we reflect on the saints and the souls who have gone before us, let us offer up ourselves to Him. Let us pray that age old doxology that is sometimes sung by some Churches. Let us prayerfuly sing: youtube/watch?v=2kmskQGUIlc Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye Heavenly Hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 21:05:11 +0000
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