Friar’s Corner: Blessed are those who follow Jesus

Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR

Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1:1-4, 6; Corinthians 15:12,16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26

“Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth, who are everywhere present and fill all things,  treasury of blessings and giver of life, come and increase your presence within us, cleanse us of all stain (sin) and save us, O gracious Lord.” We beg these graces of the Holy Spirit.

Now I shift gears from the gifts week. We see those that God is blessing and those who don’t want his blessings.  The major prophet Jeremiah was of a priestly family near Jerusalem. He was called by God to give a hard message to the Jewish people who had turned away from God’s plan. They refused, their kingdom and the city were destroyed, and most of the people were led off in slavery to Babylon in 586 B.C. Jeremiah told the people how to find true happiness in life: if they followed God’s plan they would be blessed. He was preparing them for Jesus’ new kingdom of blessings.

God’s blessings and woes

Psalm 1 also speaks about blessings for those who delight in the plan of God and think about it a few times in the day. These people are like trees planted in the water flowing from the throne of God in heaven. They bear abundant fruit and their leaves never fade.

Two of our gospels speak about how God blesses those who follow his law and are faithful to it. We have these “beatitudes” in St. Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount and here in St. Luke in the Sermon on the Plane. Matthew is speaking to a general audience. Luke is speaking to an audience of mostly poor, hungry, sick and downcast at times, under Roman oppression. Neither author is saying that being poor is a blessing and having wealth is evil. Jesus said that there would come a time when things will be reversed. Blessed rewards will come to faithful followers. To the unfaithful ‘woes” pain or displeasure, hardship or distress will happen to them.

Both texts have four categories of blessings and four woes or non-blessings.

Four blessings

These are St. Luke’s blessings:

Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours,

Blessed are the hungry now, you will have your fill,

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you and ostracize you, when they insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man (Jesus). Rejoice,… for your reward will be great in heaven.

 Four woes:

Then St. Luke lists the woes:

Woe to you who are rich now, you have your consolation.

Woe to you who are well fed now, you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in the same fashion.

When some of us look around at our country, culture and the world, we see the anti-God forces are getting stronger and more numerous. Those of us focused more on the good side of things look to Jesus’ teaching, want to follow him, get more healed and know we need more daily prayer. I pray some chaplets of Divine Mercy for various groups and needs along with my normal prayers. I want to get closer to Jesus and help bring his love and good news to others. As we do this, we find ourselves in the fourth Blessing of St. Luke. We may not be greatly accepted. As followers of Jesus, we experience some degree of opposition. There is an ongoing war between good and evil, between God’s light and the devils. We know deep within us that with Jesus and the power of his resurrection, we have the ultimate victory. Jesus said, “our reward will be great in heaven.”

Let us get closer to Jesus each day and be filled with more of his Fire of love. God empowers us to serve and radiate His love and goodness to others. We can’t change the whole world and fix many problems. As we get closer to Jesus we can affect those closest to us, those to whom we are sent to help, or those who come to us for help. This God work, works of mercy, bring us and those we help, more of God’s joy. As we do this we join God’s army of thousands that are doing so much good in our parishes, dioceses and various institutions around the world every day bringing happiness and joy. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-17,

Finally, find your strength in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the deceit of the devil. For we are not struggling against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, the powers, and the cosmic rulers of this present darkness, and against the spirits of evil in the heavens. Put on the armor of God, so that you will be able to hold fast on the evil day and hold your ground with all your strength.

When I think of God’s armor, I think first of getting dressed. We bathe first and ask forgiveness for our sins. Then we put on our underclothes for the day, according to our state in life. We put on a shirt or blouse of chastity and pants of purity. Then our belt of God’s truth has something to hold in place. We put on our ‘bulletproof vest,’  our breastplate of righteousness and take up our shield of faith to put out all the flaming arrows of the evil ones. We put on our shoes of zeal to proclaim the gospel of peace and our hat of salvation Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection. The only aggressive weapon, before we go into the world, is our sword, God’s word in our scriptures. Then we are ready to be secure for whatever the day brings. Have a power packed week, and stay as close to God as fish are to water.

Have a blessed week,

+ Fr. Bob Hilz
fbhilz@gmail.com