1: "Would you
hold my baby for me, please?"
Years ago a young man was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a
stop-over in Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came
out of the ladies' restroom carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and
asked, "Would you hold my baby for me? I left my purse in the
restroom." He did. But as the woman neared the front door of the bus
station, she darted out into the crowded street and was immediately lost in the
crowd. This guy couldn't believe his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the
woman, but couldn't see her anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down
and run? When calmness finally settled in, he went to the Traveler's Aid booth
and together with the local police, they soon found the real mother. You see,
the woman who'd left him holding the baby wasn't the baby's real mother. She'd
taken the child. Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or
something else. No one really knows. But we do know that this man breathed a
sigh of relief when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to
do with a baby? In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this
young man. Every Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, "Would you
hold My Baby for Me, please?" and then thrusts the Christ Child into our
arms. And we're left with the question, "What are we going to do with this
Baby?" But an even deeper question is just, "Who is this Baby?"
If we look at Scripture, we find all kinds of titles and names for this Baby we
hold in our arms: Emmanuel, "God-with-us;" Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Christ the King, Jesus. In
today’s Gospel describing the presentation ceremony, Simeon asks Mary the
question: "Can I hold your Baby for a few minutes, please?" (King
Duncan).
2: The
sword piercing Mary’s heart:
There is a beautiful Holman Hunt picture
in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City called "The Shadow of
Death." It is the only known work of classical art that shows Jesus
laboring as an adult in the carpenter's shop. Joseph is absent so we presume he
has died. In this painting, a day of work has ended, and Jesus has just risen
from his bench and stretches in relaxation. The shadow of his body and upraised
arms falls on a rack of tools on the wall, and we see prefigured the "very
dying form of one who suffered there for me." But the most
interesting thing about the painting is that in the background we see Mary
kneeling before an open chest in which we see the gifts of the three wise men
"the gold, frankincense and myrrh." No doubt as the years went
by, Mary watched her son grow to manhood. Now in Joseph's absence, Jesus was
supporting the family as a carpenter. Mary might have wondered if God had
mocked her with a cruel joke that her Son was the One who would redeem his
people. So again and again she would go to the chest and gently touch the
gifts, as if to convince herself that the promises were real. This might have
been the only concrete contact she had with the golden hopes of thirty years
ago. And on this day, as she caresses the golden crown and the casket of
frankincense and the vase of myrrh, suddenly she sees on the back wall the
shadow of the cross. From that day forth the shadow is ever before her. (Rev.
Eric Ritz). That was the sword that would pierce Mary's soul. Simeon knew
what lay ahead.
3: “A new
refrigerator with a 10 year warranty.”
An elderly woman in frail
health was speaking with her doctor and expressing her hope that she would have
the strength to live just a few more months so that she could celebrate the
birth of her first grandchild. Sure enough, the day came and the woman was
present and well enough to hold the little child in her arms. When the woman
went back to her doctor, he suggested that it would be important to set a new
goal so that she had something to look forward to, something to “keep her
going”. “Well”, the woman pondered, “my son did just buy me a new refrigerator
with a 10 year warranty.” Today in Luke’s Gospel we are introduced to a couple
of characters who have been waiting for a long time for a promise to be
fulfilled. When they see the Child, Anna and Simeon announce to everyone they
see that He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity.
1.
My
eyes have seen your salvation.
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of
Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
— observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord:
Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord — and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that
were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in
Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected — and a sword will pierce your
own soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe
of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been
married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years
old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and
prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke
of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went
back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to
maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
**************************************************
John LittletonReflection
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord,
which occurs forty days after our celebration of the birth of Jesus at
Christmas. The feast is also known as Candlemas Day because the blessing and
procession of candles is included in the Mass. Jesus Christ is the light of the
nations, ‘the light to enlighten the pagans’ (Lk 2:32). That is why we have the
blessing and procession of candles on this day.
The Presentation of the Lord brings to an end the celebration of the
Nativity — although Christmas officially ends with the Feast of the Baptism of
the Lord. In obedience to the Law, as was customary with first-born male
children, Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem by his mother, Mary,
and his foster father, Joseph.
Through the prophecies of Simeon and Anna, Jesus was revealed and
acknowledged as the Messiah. A similar acknowledgement had occurred when the wise
men knelt in adoration during their visit to the newborn infant Jesus (see Mt
2).
But Simeon’s prophecy to Mary about Jesus was distressing: ‘You see this
child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel,
destined to be a sign that is rejected’ (Lk 2:34). The prophecy leads our
thoughts away from the Incarnation, with an emphasis on God becoming human in
Jesus Christ, towards the Paschal Mystery, which emphasises the suffering,
death and resurrection of Christ.
Over the preceding centuries, many prophets had longed to see the
Messiah. But they had died without realising their greatest desire. Simeon and
Anna were truly blessed to meet the Saviour of the world, even if the meeting
was tinged with sadness because of their predictions about the future events in
his life. We too are blessed because we are privileged to know that we have
been saved from the consequences of our sins.
Simeon and Anna used their time well because they spent most of it in the
Temple praising God. There is an important lesson here for us. It is relatively
easy to spend time in God’s presence — simply because God is always with us. We
are not required to be in the Temple or in a church or in another designated
sacred space. We can be in God’s presence wherever and whenever we choose and,
enlivened and encouraged by God’s presence, we can be witnesses to Jesus Christ
who is the light of the world.
The tradition of lighting candles in our homes as a sign that Christ is
the light of the world is one practical custom that we could easily initiate to
focus our attention on him being at the centre of this wonderful feast and at
the centre of our lives.
Finally, on today’s feast, all families can learn the value of giving
thanks to God for the gift of children and can seek his blessing on their lives
and work. Enlightened by the brightness of Christ, let us re-dedicate ourselves
to God, confident that he never abandons us.
********************
2.
Father Philip-Michael F.
Tangorra, STL
Becoming a Light to the Nations
Purpose: The Feast of the Presentation is also traditionally when
we celebrate the purification of Mary, so that she could re-enter the temple.
It is also the evening when the Church celebrates, for the last time, the
coming of the light into the world with Candlemas. At Candlemas we see in the
imagery of the candles, the light of Christ, which we are all called to carry,
and bring throughout the world, to scatter the darkness, and become a warming
light to all humanity. Yet, to become a light to the nations, we must begin by
purifying ourselves (as seen in the first reading), so that Christ’s light
burns brightly within us, and can radiate through us to all whom we meet.
At Christmas and Epiphany, we celebrate the
coming of the Son of God in the flesh, with his revelation to humanity. These
great feasts recall the great gift of God to the world: His light, which is the
light of eternal life that brings humanity warmth and clarity of meaning and
purpose, through our union with Christ Jesus—the light. This great gift of
light brings joy and happiness to us all, because it means that human life has
dignity, value, direction, and purpose. We see in the act of gift-giving at
Christmas the greater gift of God’s light that brings joy to us all. At
Epiphany, or “Little Christmas,” we see the gifts of the Magi, which signify
the purpose for which Christ was born, to become a sacred offering, die, and
become the gift more valuable than the most precious gifts of this world. It is
this reality, the gift of the presence of Christ Jesus in this world, that we
have been celebrating since Christmas and, in a special way, we conclude that
celebration today by receiving the light of Christ.
St. Teresa of Avila describes our interior
spiritual life using the image of a mansion or castle. Each of us, as human
beings, are complicated and complex persons with a biography full of
experiences, good and bad, as well as our own thoughts on how to live our life,
and the desires we have for our life. Our influences, thoughts, and desires all
contribute to the way we live out our life, and how we allow Christ Jesus to be
a part of our life. Jesus is the light that illumines the many rooms in the
great mansion of our souls. He is the source of warmth, which gives us a sense
of meaning and purpose, and clarity, which gives us direction, for our lives.
Yet, all too often our biography—the events and people that have influenced our
lives—our thoughts and our desires keep us from receiving the light of Christ.
The Prophet Malachi foretells the coming of
the great refiner who will purify us so that we may be able to offer true
sacrifice to the Lord. “Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please
the LORD”. The usage here of “Judah” and “Jerusalem” by the prophet do not
merely signify a sacrifice offered by a united nation of God’s chosen people,
but a sacrifice offered by the “head”(Judah) and the “heart”(Jerusalem) in
union with one another. Judah was the fourth son in the line of Joshua. The
region of Judah is where David, the King, first ruled from the city of
Bethlehem. The Kingdom of Judah could symbolically be seen to be the head of
the body of the chosen people of God. Jerusalem is the heart of worship for the
people of God. It is in Jerusalem that the temple exists, and it is at the
temple that the people of God bring forth their sacrifices for union with their
God. Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, the new King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,
who has come to Jerusalem to bring true peace and unity for humanity with God,
through his sacrifice wrought on the Cross. This peace and unity brings peace
to the heart and the mind, because it is through the peace of Christ that his
light brings warmth to the heart, and clarity to the mind.
Today, on the feast of the Presentation, we
celebrate receiving the light of Christ within our head and heart, so that
peace and harmony can come to our lives. The reality is that in living in this
world, the mansion that is our soul is full of rooms that contain darkness and
dim light. When we act like Mary—who was in no real need for purification
before entering the temple—we offer ourselves in obedience to God’s will and,
in so doing, find that Christ’s light scatters that darkness, providing us the
warmth and clarity that we desire. Obedience is the un-bloody sacrifice that we
are all called to, every day of our lives. It is through obedience to the will
of God that we find—although at times it may seem very challenging—that we grow
in greater unity with God, bringing light and joy to our lives.
The more we live this purifying obedience
to the will of God, and receive his refining and warming light in our lives,
the more we become a light of Christ to the world. On this feast day, we
witness Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus to the temple to receive the light of God
in his life. But truly it is not to Jesus that the light is given, but Jesus is
the light who is received. Mary and Joseph may be presenting Jesus to the
temple, but it is really Jesus presenting himself to Mary, Joseph, Simeonh and
Anna so that they may receive his light, and proclaim it to the nations.
It is our duty today to receive that same
light of Christ in our lives in order to become great beacons radiating its
warming and clarifying light to all people.
3.
Connections:
THE WORD:
The Solemnity of the
Presentation of the Lord is observed on February 2, forty days after
Christmas. This ancient feast celebrates the faithful, devout parents of
Jesus fulfilling two requirements of the Law:
The Book of Exodus
required a first-born son to be formally “presented” to God because the
first-born sons “belong” to the Lord who saved them when the Egyptian
first-born perished at the Passover (Exodus 13: 15).
Under Mosaic Law
(Leviticus 12: 2-8), a woman was ritually “unclean” for forty days after
childbirth, unable to touch anything sacred or enter the temple area. At
the end of this period, she was to present herself to the priests and offer a
sacrifice of thanks – for a poor couple like Mary and Joseph, the offering was
two pigeons or doves.
Luke’s Gospel (and
today’s solemnity) emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple rather than
Mary’s purification. In Luke’s account, Jesus was welcomed into the
Temple by two venerable elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. For
Luke, the two are icons of the faithful Jew—the “remnant” (Zephaniah 3:12) who
awaits the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel’s covenant of
justice and compassion with God. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Anointed
of the Lord and his canticle (the Nunc Dimitis, prayed at the close of
the day at Compline in the Liturgy of the Hours) prophesies that this Child
will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In blessing the
parents, he warns that this child will be a sign opposed and that Mary will be
pierced with a sword. It is the first indication of the cross Christ will take
up to realize the salvation of humankind. Anna, as an elderly widow, is
considered among the most vulnerable and poor of society. Her encounter
with the child typifies the theme woven throughout Luke's Gospel: the
exaltation of society's poorest and most humble by God.
Inspired by the words
of the Simeon’s canticle, by the 11th century, the custom developed in the West
of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation (which became popularly
known as Candlemas). The candles were then lit, and a procession
took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was
sung.
HOMILY POINTS:
To raise a child is an
experience of both incredible joy and devastating heartbreak. Every
parent’s life is “pieced” with turmoil, disappointment, illness, desperation,
and fear. Certainly every mom and dad knows what Mary and Joseph went
through. Within our families, our sons and daughters embrace and are
embraced by the love we have known and seek to know better, to be grasped by
the hand of God who has grasped us by the hand.
The prophet Simeon
proclaims that this Child will be a “light” for Israel — but that light will
endure great suffering and pain before finally shattering the darkness.
Luke’s Gospel of the Child Jesus reminds us that the crib is overshadowed by
the cross, that this holy birth is the beginning of humankind’s rebirth in the
Resurrection.
In baptism, we
incorporate our children into the life of the Risen Christ; within our home, we
try to guide them in learning the Gospel values of compassion, love,
forgiveness, justice and peace that we have embraced. Our celebration of
Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple calls us to recommit ourselves to giving our
sons and daughters the best that we have -- our faith in the God who loves us
-- so that they may grow “and become strong, be filled with wisdom; and the
favor of God upon them.”
Anna and Simeon live
among us today in our own families and communities and "temples."
They inspire gratitude and teach compassion by the lessons of their long
lives. In the wisdom that comes with age, in the love and care they
extend to us in their grace and joy, in their faith that has been made strong
and unshakable through a lifetime of struggle, the Anna’s and Simeon’s of our
time and place are rays of God’s light shining through all of our lives,
illuminating the way to God's eternal dwelling place.
********************
4. Andrew Greeley:
5. Sermons.com:
Matthew 5:1-12 - "The True Nature
of Happiness" 4. Andrew Greeley:
Background:
Jesus patently did not see himself as a
political and military leader. Indeed his claims are in striking contrast of
the messianic portrait in the reading from Jeremiah which is the first reading
today.
However, his claims were clearly offensive to
his fellow townspeople. Indeed, he might have had less trouble with them if he
announced, like several other populist leaders of his era, that he was
proclaiming a holy war against the Romans and would lead a march on Jerusalem.
As
we saw last Sunday, however, his vision of the New Age was drastically
different. So he was offensive to his neighbors both because he made and
outrageous claim and because the claim was not, as they saw it, radical enough.
Story:
A
famous novelist came back to his home town after many years.
He
had pledged to contribute two million dollars for a new hospital. Many of his
friends from his school days were invited to a reception for him and his wife.
Some of them ignored the invitation. Why only two million, they muttered. He
could have paid for the whole hospital with all the money he has. The rest went
to the party, but they were not particularly happy about the whole event. Who
does this guy think he is?
He’d
been a quiet, unobtrusive little guy when he was in school, the kind of person
you’d hardly notice. He generally was not invited anywhere. None of the women
in his class would have considered dating him if they had been asked, only he
never asked. They had heard rumors that his novels were about the town and
about them. They believed the rumors of course, but since they hadn’t read any
of his books, they didn’t know for sure. He had to find a freshman to take to
the senior prom! So he’d made a lot of money on his novels? Why did that make
him a big deal? OK give the money for the hospital, but you should have given
more with all you have, but don’t show up in town and expect us to cheer for
you. You’re not a big deal now and you never were. Nor were they impressed with
the beautiful woman he had married. (They had known her as an obnoxious
freshman.) Anyone can look beautiful if her husband has a lot of money. She was
still cheap despite all their money. They didn’t join the receiving line,
because they didn’t want to have to talk to either of them. However, he had the
nerve to walk around the room and say hello to everyone and recall incidents
from their school days which they never remembered. They tried to be polite but
it was very hard. Then they went home and said to their children.
He’s not a big deal. He never was.
__________________________________________________
Some years ago the Raleigh, North Carolina News & Observer published an article entitled: "How Do You Measure Up As A Man? The article stated that some extensive research had been conducted on the 20th century standards for measuring a man. The criteria were quite interesting and I thought that I might list them for the men here this morning just to see how they measure up.
1. His ability to make and conserve money (That lets me out already).
2. The cost, style and age of his car.
3. (This is my favourite) How much hair he has.
4. His strength and size.
5. The job he holds and how successful he is at it.
6. What sports he likes.
7. How many clubs he belongs to.
8. His aggressiveness and reliability.
2. The cost, style and age of his car.
3. (This is my favourite) How much hair he has.
4. His strength and size.
5. The job he holds and how successful he is at it.
6. What sports he likes.
7. How many clubs he belongs to.
8. His aggressiveness and reliability.
Jesus Christ also once
set down eight principles for the measure of a person. His standards stand in
stark contrast to the aforementioned. There would appear to be a wide gulf
between the popular image of the successful person and what God sees as the
successful person.
Here's what happened:
Jesus had just started his ministry and was gaining in popularity. Large crowds
were gathering. He had just picked out his disciples. And in the quiet of the
rolling grassy hills of northern Israel by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus delivered
a sermon to a multitude. Acres and acres of human faces. The crowd represented
a cross section of humanity...
"Mushers"
and people who travel by dog sled over snowy, frozen terrain.
"Mushers" have a saying: "If you're not the lead dog, the
scenery never changes."
That
"Mushers" saying has become a centerpiece doctrine of the leadership
literature that has been inundating the corporate and church worlds of the last
thirty years. If you are not the "top dog," in other words, no matter
how far you travel your journey is just going to be a "tale of
tails."
Striving to be
"top dog" is the goal we are encouraged to achieve from our earliest
childhood to our graduate school education. No one wants to be the "under
dog" or the "low dog." Being "on top" means getting
the best grades in school, in order to get the best opportunities, the best
treatment, the best salary, the bst office, the best seats in the house, the
best table, the best of everything everywhere you go. Who could possibly not
see the advantages that come with being at the "top" and not the
"bottom" of the heap?
In 1897 vision
scientist and psychologist George M. Stratton (1865-1957) created a pair of
glasses that turned the world upside down. Actually, he turned the world
right-side-up because our eyes project an image to our brains that is naturally
upside down. Our brains take an image and invert it - giving us our "right
side up" perception of the world. Stratton strapped on his goggles and
proceeded to blunder into things for several days. In this new, now
"upside-down" world, his brain was seeing liquids "poured
up," he saw himself walking on ceilings. Everything he viewed was
completely inverted.
But only for a few
days. Our eyes are our cameras, but the pictures we take with our eyes are
developed by our brains. After a few days Stratton recorded that his most
powerful visual organ, his brain, had figured out that something was amiss.
After a few days his brain re-inverted the images it was receiving, and the
world no longer looked upside down to the scientist. His brain completely
flipped the images and presented him with a right-side up world once again. The
process took about three days...
------------------ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. Having
Lost All, All Is Found
"Having reached
the end of the Beatitudes, we naturally ask if there is any place on this earth
for the community which they describe. Clearly, there is one place, and only
one, and that is where the Poorest, Meekest, and most sorely Tried of all men
is to be found - on the cross at Golgotha. The community which is the subject
of the Beatitudes is the community of the crucified. With Him it has lost all,
and with him it has found all."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
The Cost of Discipleship
__________________________________________
2. Balance:
The Law of Love
Plato once imagined
the spiritual journey as a chariot moving through the wilderness of life, with
the soul as the charioteer trying to rein in two powerful horses: the horse of
anger or passion, and the horse of reason or order. Plato understood that both
passion and reason can be life-giving, but only when they are held in dynamic
tension, only when each power neutralizes the potential destruction of the
other. This morning Jesus tells us that we must balance the passion of anger
with the discipline and reason of love. And he tells us that the law of love
can best be fulfilled, not through rules, but through relationships.
Susan R. Andrews, The Offense Of Grace, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
__________________________________Susan R. Andrews, The Offense Of Grace, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
3. The Key to the Beatitudes
The idea of being poor
in spirit is the key to all that is to follow in the Beatitudes. I like the
note in the Life Application Bible:
"You cannot mourn
without appreciating how insufficient you are to handle life in your own
strength.
You cannot be meek
unless you know you have needed gentleness yourself.You cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness if you proudly think of yourself as already righteous.
You cannot be merciful without recognizing your own need for mercy.
You cannot be pure in heart if your heart is full of pride.
You cannot be a peacemaker if you believe that you are always right.
You cannot identify with Christ in the face of negative reactions from others without dying to yourself and renouncing your own rights."
All of these beatitudes are rooted in humility, being poor in spirit.
Owen Stepp, Unlikely
Blessings
_________________________________
4. God
Shows Through
One Sunday as they
drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said,
"Mommy, there's something about the preacher's message this morning that I
don't understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little
girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is
so big that He could hold the whole world in His hand. Is that true?" The
mother replied, "Yes, that's true, honey." "But Mommy, he also
said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our
Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that
what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on her face the little
girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He
show through?"
That is what the beatitudes are about - God showing through.
Jerry Shirley, When God Shows Through
________________________________________
5. God
Means Everything
"Blessed are the
poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
William Barclay says
this verse means, "Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter
helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God. If a man has realized his
own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God, there will enter
into his life two things....
He will become
completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got it
in them to bring happiness or security; and he will become completely attached
to God, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and
strength.
The man who is poor in
spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing, and that God means
everything."
Mickey Anders, The
Beatitudes Are Not Platitudes!
____________________________
6. "Best
All Around"
I remember in high
school having the "Who's Who" for my grade, and one of the categories
was "Best All Around." To be considered for this category, the
student needed to have a multitude and a wide variety of attributes...and be
good at them. Characteristics like being smart, friendly, well-dressed,
pretty/handsome, good at sports, and perhaps being musically gifted or artistic
are important to have if you want to qualify for the category.
Similarly, if you
could make the Beatitudes as a sort of checklist for Christians, they could see
the areas they need to improve in. Perhaps if they could check all of the
Beatitudes off the list, they might qualify as a sort of "Best All
Around" Christian, a great inspiration and role model.
Jim Forest, The Ladder
of the Beatitudes
________________________________
7. Better
than Average
A while back, I read
that 85% of all drivers in America consider themselves
"above-average" drivers. Of course, this cannot be true: By
definition, I believe only 49% of drivers are above average. However, the
survey gives us an insight into human nature: People generally view themselves
as better than others. And if they are better than others, then they are doing
a good enough job.
This transfers over
into religion far more than we are aware, and it becomes apparent in how these
Beatitudes are taught. Often one will hear, "The message of the Beatitudes
is that, if I do these things well enough, then I will be happy. If I am good
enough at these things, then I will be blessed." It's a human standard of
measure: "If I am better at this than average, then I'm in good
shape." But does this work for sainthood?
Tim Pauls, What It
Takes to Be a Saint
_________________________________
8.
You Can't Make It "By The Book"
A small parable: Once
upon a time, there was a company who had two junior executives. One did
everything by the book, was diligent and trustworthy, always made sure he was
covered and, since he always went by the book, rarely made mistakes. The other
also was a hard and diligent worker, but he often tested the rules, sometimes
received some criticism, and sometimes made mistakes. One day an opening came
up for a senior executive position, and the owner of the company promoted the
one who made mistakes over the other. Of course Mr. "By the Book" was
enraged and asked his boss why - after all, he had a better record, didn't he?
He NEVER made mistakes. He ALWAYS followed the book. To which his boss replied,
"Yes, but what will you do someday when something comes up that isn't
covered by the book. You know the rules, but he knows what we are doing here,
and why we are here. He UNDERSTANDS the company. And that's why he was promoted
over you."
How do we obtain God's
blessing? Well, the answer, of course, is that it's not something we obtain -
it's not for sale. It's something he has already freely given to you, but which
you can only recognize when you accept it as a gift, and live in it.
Gary Roth, All of
God's Blessings
__________________
9. Healthy
Are the Poor in Spirit
Some years ago a panel
of doctors was appointed by the Federal government to meet together and draw up
eight laws of public health that could be printed in pamphlet Form and
distributed to the public. After twelve days off exhaustive meetings, the
doctors were unable to come to a consensus. It seems that their areas of
concern were so diverse: one was a cancer specialist, one a cardiologist, one a
psychiatrist, and they all approached the problem from their own discipline.
The chest expert was concerned about coal dust from the mines and lint from
textile mills, while the psychiatrist was concerned about the effects off urban
stress. Finally, Dr. Harold Sladen offered Hospital in Detroit came up with an
appropriate idea. He said: Let's just republish the eight beatitudes of Jesus
and simply replace the word "Blessed" with the words
"healthy."
Staff, Sermons.com
_____________________
10. Blessed
Are the Cheese Makers
Here is the infamous
bit from Monty Pythons "Life of Brian." All great humor must have one
essential element: Truth. This bit certainly has that. Jesus' words when
misunderstood has led to some pretty fantastic conclusions. And so, this is dedicated
to all those knuckle headed interpretations throughout the years. There are two
main characters in the bit who are called Trouble and Bignose. They are at the
back of the crowd when Jesus is giving the Sermon On The Mount:
Trouble: Well go and
talk to him somewhere else... I can't hear a bloody thing.
Bignose: Don't you
swear at my wife.Trouble: I was only asking her to shut up so I could hear what he was saying, Bignose.
Bignose wife: Don't you call my husband Bignose.
Trouble: Well he has got a big nose.
Jew: Could you be quite, please. What was that?
Trouble: I don't know... I was too busy talking to Bignose.
Man: I think it was 'Blessed are the cheese-makers'...
