The Beatitudes

 

SERMON BY FATHER JONATHAN E MOORE - LINK HERE

THE BEATITUDES

The Values of the Kingdom of God

 

The Kingdom of God is the very heart of the teaching of Our Blessed Lord; one third of all the recorded sayings of Jesus relate to it. The expression “Kingdom of God” is to be found 162 times in the New Testament. Our Lord taught in parables, and thirty three such stories are recorded in the Gospels. Of those thirty three, fifteen relate to the Kingdom of God, and are generally known as “The Parables of the Kingdom”. You will doubtless know them all by heart:-

 

The Sower

The Hidden treasure

The Pearl of Great Price

The Growing seed

The Mustard seed

The Leaven in the dough

The Lost sheep

The Lost coin

The Prodigal Son

The Good Samaritan

The Unforgiving Servant

The Unjust Judge

The Pharisee and publican

The Friend at night

The Two Debtors

 

Just what do they tell us about the Kingdom of God? What is it, and where is it to be found?

 

The basic meaning of the Kingdom is to be found in Saint Matthew’s version of the Our Father, where Jesus tells us to pray:-

 

“Thy Kingdom come,

Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.“

 

The Kingdom of Heaven means the realisation of God’s rule on earth.

 

Looking at the laws of nature, science and the known universe, it is clear that an underlying law is at work. Saint Thomas Aquinas cited this as one of his five demonstrations of the existence of God - order and beauty in creation. There is only one place where that divine law is not automatically kept, and that is in human society! God created us as intelligent beings with free will. We can choose whether we let God rule in our lives or not. 

 

The philosopher Emmanuel Kant wrote:

 

"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." There is an awareness of God’s Natural Law in every human heart, but Original Sin bends our inclination away from it.

 

So how do we make the Kingdom of God happen in the world around us? Jesus told Pilate “My Kingdom is not of this world”. We cannot reproduce a heaven on earth, many political ideologies have promised to do so, but all have failed. God’s Kingdom cannot be imposed through conquest or coercion.

 

There is only one way the Kingdom of God can come on earth. Take time this week to read through some of the parables I mentioned earlier on. They all have this in common:

 

They are all about individual human beings and the decisions they make.

They involve experiencing loss, seeking, finding, and choosing the greatest good.

 

The Kingdom of God is accepted or rejected in each individual human heart.

 

When Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God in His great Sermon on the Mount, He began with the eight Beatitudes, which are often called the “Manifesto of the Kingdom of God”.

 

There’s an easy way to remember them in just eight words, what I call the 4 P’s, 3 M’s and 1 J (or “R”)

 

There are variations in the translation of this text, but I have chosen the Douay Rheims translation of Saint Jerome’s Vulgate in the Vatican Editio Typica of 1982. If you prefer “Righeousness” to “Justice” as a Kingdom value, then please use “R” instead of “J “. I feel that our world needs more Justice and less of what some people choose to call “Righteousness”.

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven - the Douay Bible adds this footnote:  "The poor in spirit": That is, the humble; and they whose spirit is not set upon riches.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land. 

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. 

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy

Blessed are the pure of heart: for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God. 

Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake”.

 

Every Christian should really know the Beatitudes as well as they know the Ten Commandments.

 

Remember them in just eight words, (4 P’s, 3 M’s and 1 J (or “R”).

 

Poor

Pure

Peacemaker

Persecuted

Meek

Merciful

Mourning

Justice/Righeousness

 

We are all well used to examining our conscience in the light of the Commandments, but we really ought, with equal diligence, to be examining our basic attitudes in the light of the Beatitudes.

 

It is one thing to go through a list of sins and say at the end “I’ve done none of those things” - highly commendable.

 

But if you go through the Beatitudes and then say “I don’t do any of those things!”, then it’s quite a different story, as we read in the 5th Chapter of Matthew.

 

I would commend this very simple little spiritual exercise to you.

 

Firstly, if you don’t already know the Beatitudes by heart, please commit them to memory - my 4 P’s, 3 M’s and one J might help in that.

 

Secondly, each time you pray the Mysteries of Light, choose just one of those eight Beatitudes, and hold it in your mind during the Third Mystery.

 

Choosing to live the values of the Kingdom is the only way to taste heaven while still on earth.

Faith - True or False?

 

ARTICLE BY FATHER FRANCIS MAPLE - LINK HERE 

FAITH:  TRUE OR FALSE?

Mt. 7:21-27

The Sermon on the Mount is greatly revered for it contains many of the most memorable sayings of Jesus.  It begins with the Beatitudes, contains the Lord’s Prayer, and is filled with beautiful expressions of God’s love and care.  But it ends with a stern and troubling warning.  The last section of the famous sermon begins, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”  What a disturbing thought!

Sometimes goodness is thought of as simply the absence of evil.  Yes, it is good to refrain from doing evil.  A child may be called “good” simply because the child is docile and quiet, making no demands on others.  Defining goodness so passively, however, misses the meaning of goodness.  There is an expression, “Goodness spreads itself.”  In other words it involves moral and ethical thinking and doing.  It involves attitudes and actions that are unselfish and seek the welfare of others.  Goodness in an individual person is sometimes defined as wholeness and integrity.  

The goodness of Jesus was not merely in the absence of evil, nor is it seen primarily in His keeping of the law.  His goodness came from within, from His heart and mind, and it became the spiritual energy and divine purpose with which He lived His daily life.  He not only did good, He was good.  This is where Jesus differed from the religion of the scribes and Pharisees.  Their religion was only external and did not issue from the heart and mind.  This made it superficial.  Jesus’ goodness was in His integrity and consistency.  There was no conflict between what He believed and how He lived.  

Jesus’ first followers called him “Lord,” as His followers have done ever since.   The plain meaning of the word “lord” is to have power and authority over others.  A Lord Chancellor, for example, may have been given the title by a majority of those over whom he rules.  The disciples of Jesus, as individuals, chose to make Him their Lord.  They did so because of their overwhelming experience of Him as deserving of that role.  Consider the enormous difference between someone demanding to be your Lord and Master, and someone proving worthy to be granted such a role in your life. 

In the first century, people came to Jesus for what they could get from Him.  Some followed Him because they hated living under Roman rule and they wanted Jesus to liberate them.  Some followed Him because they were desperately ill.  Others, like the Apostles, followed Him because they believed He was God and accepted Him as their Lord and Master.  People called Jesus “Lord” for all kinds of reasons, only as long as He could solve all their problems.  Sadly, all things considered, Jesus was a huge disappointment in Palestine.  He did not heal everybody.  He did not put food on everybody’s table.  He did not destroy the stifling Roman presence in Palestine.  He did not even live up to the expectations of some of His followers.  This is why so many forsook Him in the end.

Many people call Jesus “Lord.”  But is He really their Lord?  What makes Him their Lord?  Jesus makes it abundantly clear to whom He is a Lord when He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  

If we follow Jesus simply for the reason of what He can do for us then we should not be surprised when concerns such as the “cost of discipleship” and “taking up our crosses” fade into the background. 

How can we know whether our faith and love in Christ is true or false?  Is it a matter of going public with our faith - talking about it and putting it on bumper stickers?  Many people do these things for whom Christ is not actually Lord.  Jesus says the supreme evidence of genuine faith is doing the will of God.  Doing God’s will is loving Him with your whole being and loving your neighbour as yourself.  This is it in its entirety.  We must do the will of God.  If we aren’t living it, we don’t really believe it.

Lord Jesus, may we be like You, spreading goodness wherever we go and doing the will of our Father in Heaven.  Only then will we have entry into Your kingdom.

Who is the greatest?

 

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Who is the greatest?

by

Victor S E Moubarak

 

Link HERE 

Pentecost - What is it?

 

 

PENTECOST - What is it?

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - LINK HERE

 

John 14:15-17 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.'

 

Pentecost is a Christian festival celebrated the 49th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks. Acts 2:1-31.

 

The Apostles and others were gathered together in a house in fear of the authorities. Suddenly there's a mighty sound and flames of fire on their heads. The Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, descended on them and became one with their very souls.

Their soul and the Holy Spirit were one. And this union of the human and the Divine manifested itself in many ways. For a start they all had the courage to speak up. They were no longer afraid. These very people who days before had ran away when Jesus was arrested, suddenly gained new courage given them by the Holy Spirit.

 

They knew the truth about Jesus and His Resurrection and they were no longer afraid to keep the secret to themselves. They had the courage to stand up and shout their truth to all willing to hear. They were not afraid of the consequences.

 

And what's more, by receiving the Holy Spirit the followers of Jesus gained a new ability as well as courage. They were all able to speak in different languages that up to then they knew nothing about. There were many people in Jerusalem at the time and they heard the followers of Jesus speak to them in their own language and proclaiming the truth about Christ and His Resurrection.

 

To the early Christians, the Holy Spirit was real indeed. They had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. They received Him at Pentecost in tongues of fire and they were able to speak to the crowds that gathered in different languages. This was not something they had read about in the scriptures and the writings of the prophets. This was real indeed. They experienced it personally and had the courage to tell everyone about it. Just like you would do, if some supernatural experience happened to you.

Because the disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit, He became such a force in their lives, giving them strength to spread the Good News that Jesus had taught them, enabling them to live as Jesus had lived. 

It was they who handed on to us this mystery that in one God there are three Persons. Because they had experienced it in their lives. They had met Jesus and came to accept Him as the Son of God, and now they had also experienced the power of the Holy Spirit.

With the passage of time, the story of Pentecost, or more precisely, the significance and understanding of receiving the Holy Spirit, has been diluted over the years.

 

The reality is that we can all receive the Holy Spirit into our souls today. All we have to do is to believe it is possible; and to sincerely ask God to send us the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost - Not as Orphans

 

Sermon by Father Jonathan E Moore - LINK HERE

Pentecost Sunday 2026        Not as Orphans

“Alleluia! Not as orphans are we left in sorrow now.” Reassuring words from a much-loved hymn, (Alleluia! Sing to Jesus, William C. Dix 1867)  Last week, we heard the consoling words Jesus spoke to His first followers: “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18). Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the fulfilment of that promise. God’s Church has been gifted with the Holy Spirit, as a whole and in each and every individual member. On the first Pentecost Sunday, the Apostles experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit in an awesome, powerful, life-changing and dramatic way. It is possible for us to become so blinded by the “epic” of the Church’s birth that we lose sight of a great truth: “This promise is for you.” (Acts 2:39). Yes, the Gift of that same Holy Spirit is given to each and every one of us, and today I would like to share with you just two thoughts about receiving that gift.

Over my years as a priest, I have heard many people speak of their experience of Confirmation, often with confusion and  a sense of disappointment afterwards. One might summarise their words as follows: “We heard the story of Pentecost and of great Saints who had done marvellous things in the power of the Holy Spirit. We were told that we would receive the same Spirit. We were prepared for something great and exciting to happen, but after receiving the Sacrament we felt no different.”

I think that there is a common mistake in catechisis which is somewhat akin to a school teacher who so desires to give her pupils a love for great literature that she forgets to teach them to read first! Pope Francis spoke of what he called “Spiritual Illiteracy”. (Homily for Pentecost 2016)

This is certainly manifest when people can only believe in spiritual experience on an emotional level. In Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Counselling, I have often found that a lack of feeling in prayer and worship can lead the unwary to conclude that they are spiritually dead, and failing Christians. It can be such a relief for them to learn for the first time the basic spiritual truth that the faculties of the soul are Memory, Understanding and Will. Emotion is nowhere in it! The most cursory reading of the lives of the Saints reveals that the best and holiest of people experienced years of spiritual dryness, finding no delight or consolation in prayer at all. What makes them saints is the fact that they persevered in their efforts to love and serve God and neighbour, even when it seemed to bring nothing at all to their own selves. Saint Charles Borromeo prayed : “Lord, make me do good without knowing it”. Saint Ignatius prayed that he might “Fight and not heed the wounds, labour and seek for no reward save that of knowing that in all things I am doing Thy most holy will.” His Spiritual Exercises are matter-of-fact and often austere in their practicality, yet they have brought millions closer to God, and continue to do so today. The New Testament is clear that the immediate need of the Apostles on the first Pentecost Sunday was for COURAGE. That same gift is available to every confirmed person. People who have done extraordinarily brave deeds invariably tell of the personal terror which possessed them at an emotional level, but was overcome with an act of will. This again is clearly descriptive of the Holy Spirit at work.

“I will not leave you as orphans”.  My second thought today is about the importance of family for all of us. There is a cynical and oft-repeated aphorism “God gave me my family, but in His mercy permitted me to choose my friends!”, and maybe there are times when we might feel inclined to agree! That said, few really believe that to be true. One only has to witness the loneliness and vulnerability of the orphaned child or the desolation of the neglected old person to see how very important family is. We constantly come across stories of people going to extraordinary lengths to trace children given up for adoption at birth, or the adopted ones seeking their birth parents. Not all of these stories have a happy ending: sometimes the adoptive parents feel rejected, and sometimes the birth parents have no wish to be found. Nevertheless, the instinct to seek family, the need to belong, is a compelling motive.

The Holy Spirit, Saint Paul tells us, makes us the adopted sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven, confident to call Him “Abba” (Daddy). We are Sons and Daughters “in the Son” (cf. Romans 8:14-17), with Jesus as our older Brother. Our Lord gave us Mary to be our Mother (John 19:26). If we are all children of the same Heavenly Father, it follows that we are all brothers and sisters one with another.

Getting back to the way we feel about things, it may well be that our experience of home and family is not always one we feel all that good about, maybe our relatives are demanding, tedious and unappreciative at times, but it would be a very poor parent who used the bad behaviour of a child as an excuse for neglecting their own responsibilities. In the same way, the crankiness of an elderly parent would be no justification for their children to “wash their hands” of them.

Our adoption as sons and daughters of the one Father, and as brothers and sisters in Christ, brings its own responsibilities. Even though that great family may not always be a lot of fun, they are still family, and we are not free simply to walk away.

Perhaps the correct question for every confirmed person to ask on Pentecost Sunday is not “How should Confirmation make me feel?” But “How should I, as a child of God, be living my life?” In the 25th Chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel we are given a clear picture of the Day of Judgement. The “Blessed of my Father” who Christ the Judge calls into the Kingdom of Heaven looked after their brothers and sisters, but they didn't feel particularly virtuous in so doing. The damned didn't feel bad about their neglect of those in need. They were not judged on how they had felt, only about the way they acted.

"In the midst of winter, I found that there was within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, there is something stronger - something better - pushing back" (Albert Camus)

“But with regard to the breath of God, it not only warms, but also gives perfect light, His Spirit being an infinite Spirit, whose vital breath is called inspiration, because by it the Divine Goodness breathes upon us, and inspires us with the desires and intentions of His heart.” (Frances de Sales Treatise on Love of God VIII. 7)

May the Holy Spirit give us all the wisdom and understanding to know ourselves as children of God, and the courage to live accordingly.

The Treasure of Kindness

 

 Photo of movie poster (from Wikipedia)   

The Treasure of Kindness

Article by Fr Seán Coyle 

LINK HERE 

The first book I ever read, when seven, was my father’s unabridged copy of Robert Louis Stevenson.

I was seven and the book, my father’s, was unabridged. Dad rarely read books but always got the morning and evening paper. He encouraged me to read and when I was eight I got a card in Dublin City’s excellent public library system.

The year I read the book, 1950, a movie based on it came out. There was great excitement when it came to our local cinema in Dublin, the Broadway. The ushers were dressed as pirates and there was to be a raffle before the main movie at the children’s showing on a Saturday afternoon. Wearing a brown corduroy suit and with sixpence for the admission ticket which would serve for the raffle, I excitedly joined the queue.

When I got to the box office, though I searched every pocket, I couldn’t find the sixpence. Then I began to walk away, crying. The manageress approached me and asked me what was wrong. When I explained she told me just to go in. I was grateful and consoled. However, I still wanted a ticket for the raffle and kept searching in my pockets and eventually found the elusive sixpence. In my excitement I ran out to the box office and got my ticket.

However, it didn’t win a prize. But as the years went by, the kindness of the Broadway’s manageress keeps popping up in my memory and when it does I pray for her and, as I write this, I have prayed for the ‘pirates’ also that all of them have gone to the ‘Treasure Island’ that is heaven.

The kindness of an adult to a child can be an ongoing treasure. The memory of it brings a smile to our face. Part of the treasure is that children learn from such experiences how to behave as adults. Around 2010 a teacher in the Philippines reminded me that when she was a child I had bought her a pair of flip-flops, known as tsinelas (‘chinEELas’). I had vaguely remembered the incident which took place in 1980. Chatting with a group of children near the parish church, I noticed that one of them was wearing tsinelas that had seen better days. It wasn’t that her family was poor but rather that her flip-flops had ‘given up the ghost’ that afternoon and her home was some distance away. We went to a nearby store and I bought her a new pair, costing me only a few pesos. I totally forgot about the whole thing until she reminded me about it.

Though I didn’t make the connection at the time, the kindness of the Broadway Cinema manageress to me in Dublin in 1950 was part of what my young friend in Mindanao experienced in 1980 and still vividly remembered in 2010. The kindness of any adult to a child is part of God’s treasure available to all of us.

Broadway Cinema Dublin 

Photo from cinematreasures.org

The cinema closed in 1956 

but the building is now used as a youth centre.