Matthew 5: 1-12 (links validated 1/10/23)

It may be the most famous shot in Hollywood history. Reggie Callow, an assistant director of “Gone with the Wind,” credits it to the film’s production designer, William Menzies. “He devised and created the shot, and it was his suggestion that we use an oil derrick crane in order to pull the camera back to such a high position.” On the eve of Atlanta’s fall to General Sherman’s Union army, Melanie Hamilton is about to give birth, so Scarlett O’Hara goes to the train yard to fetch Doctor Meade. Searching for the physician, she glides, without a glance, among stretchers bearing wounded soldiers. The camera begins to retreat from her progress, ascending into the air, revealing more and more wounded Confederate soldiers. The vista of injured continues to inflate, stunning us with the immensity of the suffering. The scene eventually expands to include a tattered Confederate battle flag, blowing forefront, high in the wind, the symbol of an oblivious pride that has wrought so much suffering...

sermon on incarceration

(includes lots of Greek exegesis)

["The Greek adjective ptochós (poor) does not have a purely material meaning. It means “a beggar”, and it should be seen as linked to the Jewish notion of the anawim, 'God’s poor'. It suggests lowliness, a sense of one’s limitations and existential poverty. The anawim trust in the Lord, and they know that they can count on him..."]

(always good insights!)

("Yesterday I went to see The Railway Man. The inhumanity of the Thai-Burma railway was not a story I was meeting for the first time. The great healing between Eric Lomax, the British soldier, and Nagase, the Kempetai, or Japanese Secret Service, translator was voiced near the end of the movie: 'Some time you have to stop hating.' It was through this that both men regained their lives and their humanity..." This is well worth the read!!)

("Nominated for Best Picture this year is Philomena, the story of an Irish woman's quest to find a son taken from her without her permission and sold for adoption to an American family by the convent she had turned to for mercy when she was a pregnant unwed teen. Hers is a testament to the blessing, the power, and the sacredness of mercy, a mercy born in the crucible of blame, shame, humiliation, and oppression..." and two more movies)

(excellent exegesis - worth a look!!)

To the world, the Beatitudes look like a formula for a disastrously dull and melancholy life. Instead, as C.S. Lewis wrote, the people around us think that money and sex and booze and the high life are as good as it gets. To folks like this the Beatitudes sound roaringly stupid. But such people are like an ignorant little child who says that he’d rather just go on making mud pies in some slaggy alley in the slums simply because he can’t imagine what it means that you just invited him to go to the beach for the weekend. People in this world are far too easily pleased. They think mudpies is as good as it gets when really they and we all have been made for joy! Blessed are you if you know the joy that is our God in Christ for it changes everything!

The Rev. Brian Combs, who is shown emerging from behind the stone wall on the right, founded Haywood Street Congregation in 2009 to be a place of welcome for those struggling with addiction and/or homelessness. “The most painful part of holding a cardboard sign at the intersection,” he says, “is not the humiliating public declaration of helplessness or having trash thrown at you, or watching the automatic doors lock down. By far, from what I’ve heard after a decade of listening, is the refusal of so many drivers, idling just feet away at the red light, to even make eye contact.” Commissioning this fresco—a permanent medium in which paint joins with plaster, making the image inseparable from the church architecture—is one way in which Haywood Street is “affirming sacred worth, restoring human dignity, and sabotaging the shame of poverty.”...

We all know that heroes rule the box office, but did you know they now rule the internet? Throughout 2019, Google analytics data showed a global increase in searches centering around “heroes.” Sure, some of those searches had to do with what action movies were playing in theaters, but many of them were centered around what they call “everyday heroes.” Google even aired a YouTube video on New Years featuring a montage of all the “everyday heroes” videos that circulated the internet during 2019. The heroes featured in the video are strangers, teachers, first responders, children, athletes. While there were some exceptions, most of the heroic actions emerged from adversity: illness, danger, injury, loss, prejudice, natural disasters. Watching the video will bring happy tears to your eyes, because of the acts of courage and love shown by each of the individuals...

In the musical “The Fantasticks,” two exasperated fathers are talking about the difficulties of raising their children and they compare raising children to raising vegetables. They note that when you plant a vegetable seed, you know what you are going to get, but it’s not that way with children. The break into the song “Plant a Radish.” Plant a radish. Get a radish. Never any doubt. That's why I love vegetables; You know what you're about! Plant a turnip. Get a turnip. Maybe you'll get two. That's why I love vegetables; You know that they'll come through! They're dependable! They're befriendable! They're the best pal a parent's ever known! While with children, It's bewilderin'. You don't know until the seed is nearly grown Just what you've sown. Every turnip green! Every kidney bean! Every plant grows according to the plot! While with progeny, It's hodge-podgenee. For as soon as you think you know what kind you've got, It's what they're not!...

For over thirty years Wiley Publishing has been producing the tremendously successful “… for Dummies” series of titles. My first experience was “Windows for Dummies.” I expect my latest will be “iPhone X10 for Dummies.” The secret of their success is to make intimidating subjects approachable… cutting through the technical jargon and “dumbing down” the core concepts to their absolute essentials in a non-threatening, “how-to” format. That’s exactly what Jesus does for us in this week’s gospel...

In a beautiful reflection on Jesus’s upside-down kingdom, Frederick Buechner writes this: “The world says, ‘Mind your own business,’ and Jesus says, ‘There is no such thing as your own business.’ The world says, ‘Follow the wisest course and be a success,’ and Jesus says, ‘Follow me and be crucified.’ The world says, ‘Drive carefully — the life you save may be your own’ — and Jesus says, ‘Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’ The world says, ‘Law and order,’ and Jesus says, ‘Love.’ The world says, ‘Get’ and Jesus says, ‘Give.’ In terms of the world's sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion."...

Linda was nine-years-old when her mother died of cancer. She felt robbed of everyday life, jealous of her classmates who had perfect mom-and-dad families. When she was 12, she was on a walk with her Dad in an old town cemetery where she saw an engraved tombstone, “William Berkley, March 15, 1802-March 18, 1802.” She remarked, “This baby only got three days.” Her father explained that babies often died young in that time due to a lack of medical understanding, but Linda was startled to realize she had never thought other people had grief and loss. She said, “I never realized I could have Mom for even less time.” It was the beginning of a sense of gratitude for the time she did have for her mother. After a few days, this changed to fear. “What if you died too?” she asked her father. “Honey, let’s hope that doesn’t happen for a long time.” Linda had seen a commercial on television about life insurance. For $1 a month, you could buy a policy that could help pay for funeral costs so you don’t burden your family. When she mentioned this to her father, he asked if she would feel better if he got the policy. Linda answered, “Yes, but don’t die.” Years later, Linda appreciated this honest and real discussion of death and her father taking her needs seriously. Fortunately, her father did live a good, long life and died at home at the age of 84. Linda gave her father a wonderful send-off and buried her father next to her mother in the cemetery. A few weeks later, Linda and her husband were rushing to a charity fundraiser for cancer...

An enduring memory of mine is the prayer card she had wedged into one of the kitchen cupboards, laminated of course so it could be wiped clean occasionally amid the chaos. It may be familiar to you. Many simply know it as the ‘Kitchen Prayer’. The first part of it goes… Lord of all pots and pans and things Since I’ve not time to be A saint by doing lovely things or Watching late with Thee Or dreaming in the dawn light or Storming Heaven’s gates Make me a saint by getting meals and Washing up the plates...

Just a few months ago, Pope Francis offered new beatitudes for the modern church. “Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart. Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness. Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him. Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home. Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others. Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians. All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness. Surely they will receive from him their merited reward.”

Some years ago, as chaplain of the West Orange Fire Department, a couple of guys on the department called one day to tell me that there was a fireman from New York who was going to be at Kessler Rehabilitation Center and asked me to go up to meet him. Little did I know who it was. His name is Eugene Stolowski. And he was one of the men who were responding to a fire in Jan 2005 which became infamously known as Black Sunday and had been in the local news a great deal. They were in a burning Bronx building, became trapped, had no safety ropes to lower them down 50 feet to the cold, icy ground below and were forced to decide whether to stay in the inferno or make an attempt to jump out the windows of the building. Realizing their best shot at survival was to jump, that’s what they did. Tragically, two of the men would die from the fall, and the other three would have very serious injuries. But none of them as bad as Gene...

Those of us who have been forever contaminated by close contact to Monty Python’s movie “Life of Brian” are no longer able to listen to or read these verses without thinking of the line “blessed are the cheese makers.” I’ll risk an explanation for those of you who are still pure of heart. In the movie those who are on the edge of the large crowd are having trouble hearing Jesus so one of them asks, “What was that?” The response is, “I think it was blessed are the cheese makers” which in turn prompts the response, “What’s so special about the cheese makers?”...

("To the world, the Beatitudes look like a formula for a disastrously dull and melancholy life. Instead, as C.S. Lewis wrote, the people around us think that money and sex and booze and the high life are as good as it gets. To folks like this the Beatitudes sound roaringly stupid....")

he unfamiliar story is taken from Bruce Courtenay’s autobiographical novel “The Power of One.” The Power of One was made into a movie about twenty years ago, so the story may be somewhat familiar. The story begins in the late 1930's, when Bruce is just six years old. Bruce is an English boy living in South Africa. Bruce’s father has been killed by a rogue elephant and his mother has gone into a sanitarium after the killing of the boy’s father. The little boy ends up being raised by his Zulu nanny and because he is six years old and he should go to school, she ships him off to boarding school. But the boarding school the boy finds himself in is a school for Boer boys, and the Boers and the English hate each other for reasons too long to go into here.

Will Campbell tells the story of the little church that had seven or eight deacons. One of them had gotten a divorce and married another woman. Both of them were very decent people. They had just tragically gotten a divorce. There was a movement by the preacher to have the deacon reprimanded by the church because he had sinned. At the crucial meeting, before the motion could be made, the deacon stood up and said, “I hereby resign as the church treasurer.” It was accepted. He stood again and said, “I hereby resign as director of music.” It was accepted too. He rises again and resigns his deaconship. It was done, but the young preacher smelling blood, and thinking he had the other deacons’ support said, “I just think we ought to go back to the old ways where we would discipline people in the church, so that when someone sins like this, they have got to come before the church and repent and ask for forgiveness, and then the church decides whether to restore them or not.” No one said anything, but someone turned to Will’s Daddy, Lee Campbell and asked, “Brother Lee, what do you think? You’re the senior deacon.” He said, “Well, if you hadn’t asked Uncle Lee, Uncle lee wouldn’t have told you, but since you did, Uncle lee is a-thinking, who’s gonna make the motion? And who’s gonna second it?” It was like a mule had kicked them in the belly. They looked around and every one of them except Will’s Father was either divorced themselves or was married to a woman who was divorced and had a living ex-husband...

As those of us in the United States approach the one-year anniversary of our presidential election, Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 and now again in Matthew 23 are words to embolden resistance and persistence. As anti-Beatitude living becomes more acceptable, more normative, more regularized, these are words that call us out of our complacency and conformity. As we continue to experience the effects of national and global trauma, of natural and human made disasters, these are words to believe in, to count on, to trust. As we feel the burden of compassion fatigue, of empathetic exhaustion, as a result of the many perils of the people in our parishes, in our communities, in our nation, and in our world, these words bring peace.

There is a scene in Schindler’s List that came back to me while reading the Beatitudes. Amon Goeth, played by Ralph Fiennes, is the commandant of a German death camp. Goeth is, in brief, a violent sociopath, prone to kill the Jewish prisoners at his camp indiscriminately. And he believes that his ability to kill is the very essence of power. Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, is a consummate showman and has somehow worked his way into Amon Goeth’s good graces. One evening, Schindler challenges Goeth’s beliefs about power. The ability to kill isn’t power; the ability to have mercy is power. That’s why, Schindler argues, the Emperor was the most powerful person in Rome. Anyone could kill; only the Emperor could pardon a convicted criminal out of mercy. Goeth “tries on” being merciful, pardoning a few people who have annoyed him. It feels good, but he can’t pull it off for long, eventually returning to his brutal ways...

Russian artist Marc Chagall illustrates the collision of wisdom and foolishness in an illustration that is part of The Fables of La Fontaine. "The Madman Who Sold Wisdom" (Le Fou qui vent la Sagesse) tells the tale of a fool who announces that he has wisdom for sale. Soon enough people line up to buy wisdom, and what he gives them is a length of cord and a slap on the side of the head. Some were angry that they had paid for this; others simply walk away, believing they will look more foolish if they try to argue with a fool.

Wicked opens with the people of Oz celebrating the death of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Someone in the crowds asks Glinda, the Good Witch, if it’s true that Glinda and Elphaba were once friends, and the question prompts Glinda to share the story. We flash back in time to when Elphaba and Glinda – then Galinda – both arrive at school, along with Elphaba’s sister Nessarose. Elphaba, who is born with the distinctive green skin that we see in The Wizard of Oz, is smart and skilled, and generally disliked by father and her classmates, especially the very pretty and popular but not-so-magically-skilled Galinda. At the start of the musical, then, Galinda and Elphaba do not get along, but after Galinda tries to make a fool of Elphaba by setting her up to wear a big black pointy hat, something no one else is wearing, Galinda feels bad and tries to make up for her mean behavior. Slowly the two young women become friends...In the song “For Good,” they sing these words to each other: “I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason. Bringing something we must learn and we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.” “Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you I have been changed for good.”...

The Food Network used to have this show called "Restaurant Impossible." Anybody ever watch that? I loved it because it combined cooking and travel and building renovation and marketing and budgeting and sometimes even conflict management and family therapy – all interesting in themselves, but then you put those things together with this no-nonsense chef Robert Irvine, you had great television. The way it worked was that he would travel to a failing restaurant, quickly assess the situation, and then work to turn it around. He had an interior designer, a carpenter, two days and $10,000. They might remodel the dining room, tweak the menu, update the kitchen, or change the way the business was managed. They worked feverishly with the limited budget and time schedule, and then they would reopen and a crowd of diners would test the new and improved restaurant...

Winston Churchill, arguably one of the greatest political and military leaders of the 20thcentury, planned every detail of his funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. He worked clandestinely with cathedral staff, under the code name “Operation-Hope-Not.” (That code name reveals a lot about humanity’s attitude toward death, doesn’t it?) One aspect of his funeral seems absolutely inspired: a bugler played The Last Post, which is like the equivalent of Taps in the United States, from the west end of the cathedral. When the somber notes of that solo bugle echoed through the cathedral, I can imagine the stiff upper lips of many Brits quivered, as they were no longer able to hold back tears. Then a full minute of silence passed. And then, surely a surprise to all those mourners who crowded into St. Paul’s that day, another bugler, this one positioned in the east, rose to play Reveille, the happy morning bugle call that gives soldiers and scouts the “get up and go” they need to kick-start their day. Perhaps after the tears, a few suppressed chuckles slipped out. Always a commanding presence – even from the dead – Churchill relayed two important messages...

The Arlington House was a mansion built as a living memorial to the late President George Washington by his adopted grandson. The estate was built on 1100 acres of land across the Potomac River from Washington DC. Decades later, a distant cousin named Robert E. Lee would become the resident of this magnificent home. Between 1841 and 1857, Lee was away from Arlington House, for several extended periods while serving in the Mexican War and then as superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, his alma mater. In 1857, Lee returned to Arlington to join his family and to serve as executor of the estate. Robert E. Lee and his wife Mary Anna lived at Arlington House until 1861, when the Commonwealth of Virginia ratified an alliance with the Confederacy and seceded from the Union. Lee, who had been a Major General for the Virginia Military Forces in April 1861, feared for his wife's safety and anticipated the loss of their family inheritance! Therefore he moved her and his family to a new residence. Following the ratification of secession by Virginia, Federal Troops crossed the Potomac and took up positions around Arlington...

Professor Henry Gates, had been returning home from an international trip. He and his driver were having difficulty trying to open the front door of his house. A concerned neighbor called the police thinking that she was witnessing someone trying to break into the house. When Police Sergeant Crowley arrived to investigate, Gates, who is an African-American, accused him of racial profiling. Tensions escalated, words were exchanged and Gates was arrested...

("Less than ten years ago a couple of researchers at Princeton Seminary studied what they called The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teen-agers. Christian Smith and Melinda Denton concluded from their research that 21st century American teenagers of almost all religions share a common theological outlook called 'Moralistic, Therapeutic, Deism,' or MTD for short...")

("Is "Think Different" really different? And is Apple Inc. really revolutionary? The ad campaign was brilliant. And there's no denying that computers, smart phones, search engines, and social media have revolutionized our lives. On a deeper level, though, 'Think Different' was just more Silicon Valley hype, and no one sold the Kool-Aid better than Steve Jobs...")

Let me illustrate something of what I mean with the concluding paragraphs of a story I published some years ago—a baseball story, of course! Many of you know that I am a certified umpire—some of you have even watched me work your sons’ games—and I used an umpiring experience I had as the basis for this fictional narrative. It involves a winning run scoring on a triple play. That is a baseball rarity, but rarity is not part of the grace I’m trying to illustrate in this story...

Early in this past week the big news was the death of American folk singer-songwriter, Pete Seeger. I've known some of his songs since I was a child but before last week I could not have told you that this was the name of the singer who made them popular. As I looked at the list of those songs though, it really did not surprise me that thy were his songs...

We celebrate the Solemnity of All the Saints. It's a good time to remember that there is really only one thing about which we should be anxious. Are we fulfilling the purpose of our lives, of our very existence? Are we becoming saints? In the end—at the end—that's the one thing that matters: not to be found wanting before God...

("In her book A Passion for Life, Joan Chittister writes 'For centuries the church has confronted the human community with role models of greatness. We call them saints when what we really often mean is "icon," "star," "hero," ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves.'...")

Maureen was a member of my congregation in Odessa, Texas. In her early years she was a ballerina. In midlife, she taught ballet at the Maureen Emerson School of Dance. By the time I got there, she was in her senior years and bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis. We had a dedicated corps of volunteers who visited the sick and homebound, and they all told me what a blessing I’d get out of visiting Maureen. They were right. I found her upbeat and cheerful and teeming with life. She was quick to ask how I was doing, and she wanted to know all about my family. I couldn’t escape the irony: A once-graceful ballerina now reduced to a tiny, gnarled, twisted body confined to a hospital bed. She had every reason to be bitter and complain and feel sorry for herself. Instead, she exuded a spirit of joy and optimism and gratitude for life in all its abundance. She turned a curse into a blessing, not by living in denial, but by living by faith. God was her strength and hope. That’s what she shared with others, and that’s what I think she’d have me share with you today...

Some of you might remember that the comedy Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, is one of my favorite movies. Let me begin with an overview of the story. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a self-centered, not-very-likable local TV weather man in Pittsburgh; and Andie MacDowell plays Rita, his kind and considerate producer, who doesn’t care much for her weather man’s self-centeredness. On the evening of February 1, Phil, Rita, and a camera man travel to nearby Punxsutawney, Pa., for a date with that famed weather-prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog. As Bill Murray’s character Phil gets up at 6 am on February 2 to be there for Groundhog’s Day, he has no idea that a strange adventure is about to begin for him. He goes through the motions of taping the news story, and then finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney because of a blizzard, and stays another unexpected night. When the alarm clock goes off the next morning at 6am, it’s not the next day, February 3. No, it’s February 2, Groundhog Day, again; and he discovers that all the events of the day happen exactly the same as the day before, except for him. The only variable is him. In fact, he finds himself trapped in a loop to seemingly live this one day over and over and over again. He is the only person who remembers that he is living the day again. At one point he is so despairing that he kills himself numerous times — only to find that he still wakes up again at 6am on Groundhog’s Day...

As a background story to keep in mind, I suggest one of the pre-eminently Christian sagas of our time, the Harry Potter series. As the first of the seven books begins, (2) Harry is about to turn eleven years-old, living with his aunt and uncle, who treat him outrageously like an outsider to their home, favoring their own son Dudley. And all that Harry knows about his parents are that they died senselessly in a car crash, leaving him orphaned. He lives with an orphan identity in a home where he is not really wanted, constantly feeling as an outsider. On the night that Harry turns eleven, that all changes...

("Nathan cleaned the church sanctuary every Saturday evening so that it would be ready for worship on Sunday mornings. One Saturday evening, I went to the sanctuary to collect the Bible that I had left there the previous Sunday. But just before I entered the sanctuary, I heard Nathan's voice coming from inside. He seemed to be having a conversation, but I could not hear anyone else talking...")

("Jesus, though, lifted up the lives of those from whom we'd rather look away: the lost, the lame, the lonely, the lovelorn, the left-behind. A blind beggar from the streets of Jericho. A Samaritan who helped a beaten man. A father with two troublesome sons and a weary heart. A woman bent-over for eighteen years. Another with twelve demons in her spirit. Peter, the fool, who loved Jesus and almost never understood him...")

If I had a wish-list for the church today, it would include a request for three saints of old to re-appear in a new guise. What the church needs today is a new Augustine of Hippo, a new Francis of Assisi, and a new Thomas More...

("One of my favorite lines in Monty Python's movie Life with Brian has a scene from the Sermon on the Mount among people in the back of the crowd struggling to hear. They are arguing and bickering with each other while Jesus is speaking and one man asks what Jesus is saying. 'I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheese makers'. 'The cheese makers, what's so blessed about the cheese makers?' a woman asks.'...")

("A sermon by Bernard of Clairvaux has this intriguing title: . They are Truth, Justice, Mercy and Peace. In the sermon the Four Daughters come before God after our first parents fell, that is, after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. The held a kind of trial: Truth spoke first...")

I visited John from time to time as his pastor. Once he had been strong, athletic even, with a sharp wit and tongue to match. Now he was reduced to a shadow of a man. His lungs had failed him. It was not by cancer, no, for that can be cut out, nuked with radiation, or fried with chemicals. No, it was a disease more pernicious by far, and deadlier. His lungs were calcifying, turning to stone as he worked, and lived and slept, all the while drawing the breath out of him until none remained. Well, cut out the diseased part, you might say, but that would have helped, not hindered, its spread, and hastened the day of his passing. No, there was but one option for John, to keep the rest of his body healthy enough that when the time came they might transplant new lungs, new breath, into his failing body and thus give John a second chance at life. John's body may be failing, but his wit was intact...

Let me illustrate something of what I mean with the concluding paragraphs of a story I published some years ago—a baseball story, of course! Many of you know that I am a certified umpire—some of you have even watched me work your sons’ games—and I used an umpiring experience I had as the basis for this fictional narrative. It involves a winning run scoring on a triple play. That is a baseball rarity, but rarity is not part of the grace I’m trying to illustrate in this story...

("On October 2, 2006 ten Amish schoolgirls were murdered at the Nickel Mines Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. While the rest of the world was horrified and angry at this horrific massacre and even though the Amish parents of these children were terribly hurt and grief stricken, as you might imagine, they stunned the world by immediately forgiving the killer of their children...")

And now there’s a little a poem that I would like to, it’s an anonymous one, but this is his tribute to All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day. The saints are like windows. Through them the light of God’s wisdom streams into the world, banishing the darkness and brightening the road for uncertain travellers. Through them the warmth of God’s love radiates throughout the world, banishing the coldness, warming the hearts of even the most forlorn of his creatures. And through them we catch a glimpse for a moment of another world, a world that lies not just beyond the walls of our eternal home, but even beyond the stars...

When I was six years old, I got lost at Jones Beach, which is a beach in New York. And it had very high waves. I didn’t get lost, I lost myself. I was tired of my big sister who was taking care of me, so I went off on my own with my shovel and pail into this huge crowd of people and in about fifteen seconds I was totally lost and frightened. And, finally, a policeman came and he knew, so he took me by the hand to the police station and gave me this very nice police lady to talk to. And he asked me some questions and I went, “What am I doing here? Why did I ever do this?” And I’m frightened to death, and one hour after another. And then the lady had to go away and there I was alone, sitting at the police station wondering if I was going to die here or if my father would… what would happen. Suddenly, after two hours, at the door stood my father and he ran over. And I thought he should have really belted me one because I was very naughty. And the whole family was afraid I had drowned in the great waves at Jones Beach. And I threw myself into his arms and it’s the first time I cried. You see, when we were young, we were told little boys don’t cry. Only little girls cry. And I just cried over him and he cried over me...

I love the “Family Circus” cartoon series. Bill Keane, the artist, has the knack of taking something profound and saying it in a picture and a very few words. In this block the mom is walking with her kids on the sidewalk and a woman asks her how she divides her love among so many children. She replies simply, “I don’t divide it, I multiply it!”...

A young man tells about the most devastating event of his life; the death of his mother. His mother was a beautiful person, this young man writes, not because of any remarkable physical appearance, but because of her deep faith in God and her love of her family. She never complained about her life being cut short at the age of forty nine. Throughout her suffering, his mother would say, "I thank God for my family and my life." Even though she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, his mother radiated the joy that comes from placing her total trust in God. Each morning her husband would say to her, "This is the day that the Lord has made!" Courageously, she would respond, "Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" So she responded with her nearly last breath. That is saintly faith; living life trusting in nothing other than God. That's the first thing that we are to be about as saints...

In reading this week for preparation I ran across an insightful commentator speaking on the third Beatitude, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” He writes of those blessed in this third Beatitude: …they are the meek, who renounce all rights of their own for the sake of Jesus Christ. When they are berated, they are quiet. When violence is done to them, they endure it. When they are cast out, they yield. They do not sue for their rights; they do not make a scene when injustice is done them. They do not want rights of their own. They want to leave all justice to God…. What is right for their Lord should be right for them. Only that. In every word, in every gesture, it is revealed that they do not belong on this earth. Let them have heaven, the world says sympathetically, that is where they belong. But Jesus says, they will inherit the earth. The earth belongs to these who are without rights and power. Those who now possess the earth with violence and injustice will lose it, and those who renounced it here, who were meek unto the cross, will rule over the new earth. We should not think here of God’s punishing justice in this world (Calvin). Rather, when the realm of heaven will descend [Rev. 21], then the form of the earth will be renewed, and it will be the earth of the community of Jesus. God does not abandon the earth. God created it. God sent God’s Son to earth. God built a community on earth…. But Golgotha, too, is a piece of the earth. From Golgotha, where the meekest died, the earth will be made new. When the realm of God comes, then the meek will inherit the earth. (1) Any guesses about who wrote this? It was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1936, as Hitler’s power was rising...

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("For Matthew, Jesus is the new and greater Moses. Today is the beginning of his teaching, the first sermon we see, if you like. If Jesus is the new Moses, and he has also gone up the mountain, then these ten sayings we call The Beatitudes are Jesus' version of The Ten Commandments. How are we to hear them?...")

("Almost thirty years ago, Daniel Berrigan wrote a little book that he entitled Ten Commandments for the Long Haul. It was, in effect, a handbook of sorts on how to be a prophet in today's world...")

("Miss Thompson was Teddy's teacher. You know what a lot of teachers say at the beginning of the year: "I love you all. You are all important to me. I have no favourites." Teachers lie sometimes. Of course they have favourites. Some of their students they just don't like. Teddy Stollard was one of those students that Miss Thompson did not care for...." and other quotes)

They had been frugal all of their lives, and nobody knew how much money they had. In fact, for most of their lives, they lived in the same modest home and drove modest cars. They bought good quality clothes at closeout prices. They rarely ate their meals out, and, when they did, they never went to expensive restaurants..." and other examples of the Beatitudes

("Many years ago a man received a magnificent horse. All his neighbors came to admire the horse. They said to him, 'you are the luckiest man in our village'. The man replied, 'Maybe yes, maybe no'...")

("This story is told about St. Francis: One day he and Brother Leo conversed as they went from village to village. They discussed what would consitute perfect joy. Brother Leo had walked with Francis for many monthes so he knew that perfect joy was more than a good meal and a bottle of wine. He suggested some other possibilities:..")

("Once upon a time a certain Catholic college was trying to recruit a brilliant high school quarter back from a small southern town. The coach and the president told the players on the team that the potential recruit was from the 'bible belt'...")

("The pumpkins, penny candy and neighborly hordes of goblins and ghosts shouting 'Trick or treat!' remind us of the ancients and their belief that the souls of the dead must be appeased. But it's the days that follow Halloween that most interest me...") (You will need free passwords to access this site.)

("When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor are hungry they call me a communist.' These are the words of Dom Helder Câmara, archbishop of the Brazilian diocese of Olinda and Recife who was brutally murdered on August 27, 1999...")

("The folks who contributed artwork to the auction each had to write an artist's statement to accompany our piece. Here's how mine went: 'Before the paint, before the color-drenched layers, it began with a prayer. Penciled words across the white paper...")

("Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory belongs to the canon of secular scripture, those writings - not in the Bible - that help us walk the way of Christ. It is the story of a worldly 'whisky priest', who is being hunted down in an anti-clerical purge in Mexico in the 1930's. This pathetic figure is 'too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom'...")

("In his novel Anything For Billy, Larry McMurtry describes his anti-hero Ben Sippy, who has left a good life in Philadelphia for the wild adventures of the late nineteenth century west, as suddenly being overcome with a restless longing that he found undefinable...")

("Once upon a time there was this priest who was turned off by saints. He felt that his teachers all through school had forced the saints down his throat. He was sick and tired of saints. Moreover, the saints that he had heard about were creepy people. You wouldn't want them on your parish council or your teen club committees...")

("Maybe a trick-or-treater could just go dressed as a regular child, such as the boy who went to a scouting contest for homemade racing cars. It was one of those events where the contestants are supposed to do their own work but most of the fathers help too much...")

I dreamed I had an interview with God. "Come in," God said. "So, you would like to ask Me a few questions?" "If you have the time," I said. God smiled and said: "My time is eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?" "What surprises you most about human beings?" God answered: "That human beings get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived." God’s hands took mine and we were silent for while and then I asked.. "As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?" God replied with a smile: "To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved...

The Door Magazine published a book of their best interviews. They interviewed a man named Ole Anthony, founder and president of the Trinity Foundation, who has what we might consider a fairly radical approach to Scripture. Ole Anthony has either reached out and embraced the poor, the hungry, and the weeping, or they have found him. He lives in a community that follows a vow of poverty. In the community he lives in there is at least one formerly homeless person in each house. His community fights the corruption of televangelism in a David and Goliath-like battle. And, he is smart enough to figure out that the war against homelessness requires more than a pot of gold. It requires us to do “to others as [we] would have them do to [us].” To give you an example of how radical he is, let Ole Anthony speak for himself. He says things like: All theology and doctrines are meaningless unless you lay down your life to meet the needs of those around you who are hurting. And, It is not the function of the Church “to change the world.” It is the function of the church to have community — not just have it, but live it. And, of one of his adversaries, Ole Anthony says, I wish for [him] what I would wish for anyone – let him sell all he has, give it to the poor, then pick up the cross and follow the real Jesus...

("A wonderful priest I know once told a story about a woman he visited in an extremely isolated area. He was having a cup of tea with her and talking generally about things when he slipped in the question, 'Are you not lonely out here all on your own?' 'Lonely?' she replied, 'Of course not.' And she nodded in the direction of the holy pictures of Our Lord and Our Lady on the wall...")

A group of Christians from the United States was on a mission trip in Nicaragua. While there, a young man in this group was killed. This left the group devastated. That Sunday a memorial service was held in the local Episcopal Mission. From the altar the priest said, "The peace of the Lord be with you." The people of the congregation, Nicaraguan people, began to embrace these North Americans and say, "Paz" or "peace." These people who had suffered so much in so many ways themselves were passing the peace of Christ to this hurting mission group. During the Eucharist there was a pause. The congregation was silent for a moment. Then someone called out a name. In one voice the congregation responded, "Presente!" Another name was called out. Once again the response was, "Presente!" During the service at least twenty names were called out, and each time the same response: "Presente!" The mission trip group suddenly understood what was happening when they heard the name of the young man from their group called out. Then they realized that all the names were those of persons who had died locally. From that moment on they joined in the response "Presente!" "Presente" is used by school children to answer roll call. At the Altar the word "presente" means "in our midst" or "present with us."...

("While I was in seminary I was introduced to a story about a company. The name of the company is not important, but the story of its life and vitality are. The company began as the dream of a couple. They were developing products from natural ingredients. They made soaps, toothpastes, deodorants and other items without the use of all the chemicals and preservatives...")

("I remember a story I was told about Mother Teresa and a teacher of mine in seminary. He is a retired Episcopal Bishop and was once a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. When he was younger he went to India. He was sent to minister in the hospital where Mother Teresa worked. When he arrived she assigned him to a particular patient. This man had an advanced case of leprosy...")

Gayle Williams was a British South African who decided to respond to God's call and go to Afghanistan to serve. Her work focused on rehabilitation. She sought to raise awareness of the needs of the people with disabilities within the community. She tried to integrate children with disabilities into local schools. Gayle also provided rehabilitative training. She had been peacefully living in Afghanistan for over two years, but a radical Islamic group decided that she was proselytizing and they marked her for death. On October 20, two men rode up to her on a motorcycle and fired seven shots. Gayle Williams died a martyrs death serving her Lord and the people she loved...

Osceola McCarty was a washer woman. She washed other peoples' clothes all of her life. And every week, she put a little aside in a savings account. Her banker told that was a wise thing to do. So, she did. After awhile, she had quite a bit of money and her banker suggested she invest it. So, she did. In the summer of 1995 she did something unheard of, she donated $150,000, most of her life savings to the University of Southern Mississippi to help students get an education and have a better life than she did...

("In the early part of this century, Henry Joel Cadbury came to teach New Testament at Harvard Divinity School. Cadbury was one of the great New Testament scholars of our century and was at work on what became the Revised Standard Version of the Bible when World War I broke out. A pacifist, Cadbury would not fight in the war but instead volunteered to work with the Quakers caring for the wounded and dying on the battle fields of Europe...")

("When I say the word 'saint', who springs to mind? I imagine that one of the first people that most of us think about its Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The late Pope John Paul II 'beatified' her, that is, declared that she may be referred to as 'Blessed' Teresa of Calcutta. A person who is declared 'blessed' generally goes on to be declared a saint...")

("One of the great Christian apologists of all time, C.S. Lewis, was fond of sharing how an indefinable sense of joy had haunted him throughout his life. In the low times of his youth: the death of his mother, evil schoolmasters, early failures in friendships, he later realized that there was a hidden awareness that the divine had something better for him...")

("A friend once came to Harold Kushner, author of the book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People, and said to him: 'Two weeks ago, for the first time in my life I went to the funeral of a man my own age. I didn't know him well, but we worked together, talked to each other from time to time, had kids about the same age. He died suddenly over the weekend..." and other quotes)

("The difference between someone who can play an instrument and a musician isn't to be found in the level of skill they have acquired. You can teach yourself to play an instrument, and if you practise hard you will in the end probably come to make a fairly recognisable noise. But only the musician can enter into the music. TS Eliot writes...")

("A pastor was giving a sermon about worrying. In an effort to emphasize that worrying never achieves anything, he said, 'Ninety-nine percent of the things we worry about never happen'. 'Aha,' said a woman in the back. 'You see. It does work!'...")

("Kierkegaard admitted that he was an intellectual 'aristocrat'. His father was one of the wealthiest men in Denmark, so his inheritance meant that he never worked but instead could pour his short life entirely into writing. But every day he grabbed his favorite walking stick or umbrella and took a walk in Copenhagen for what he called his 'people bath'...")

("Millard Fuller, was a successful businessman, and anything but foolish. By the time he was 29 years old, he was worth one million dollars. His life should have been absolutely wonderful. Except something was wrong. Something was missing. His marriage was on shaky ground. His faith was not as strong and vibrant as he had hoped it would be..." and another illustration)

"Once upon a time there was a family suffering from the strain caused by sibling rivalry. The brother and sister seemed at odds over everything. Sometimes the rivalry was overt but more often then not, it was covert and even more destructive. The parents, convinced that theirs was the only family in which this happened, were dismayed at their children’s behavior..."

Thirty years ago this month a group of young Chicago suburban housewives with small children were intrigued by the changes in the Church. They wanted to know more about what it all meant. However, with the demands of family they were unable to attend any of the evening lectures offered in their community...

("George Matheson was a great preacher and hymn writer who lost his sight at an early age. He thought of his blindness as his thorn in the flesh, as his personal cross. For several years, he prayed that his sight would be restored. Like most of us, I suppose, he believed that personal happiness would come to him only after the handicap was gone..." and another illustration)

("There is a story of two men who were shipwrecked on a small island. The two men were there for some time, and each determined that the other was unworthy of being saved. So they decided that their only recourse to help was prayer...")

("Many years ago, a people were driven from their beautiful island home. They migrated to another island, poor and sparse by comparison to the home for which they longed. Someday, they were promised, they would be able to return to their homeland, but that day would be centuries in the coming...")

Once upon a time, Molly Whuppi and the girl’s basketball team at Mother Mary High School had a home game against Christ the King High School. CK was always a push over for MM because their players were not very good, didn’t have good coaches, and didn’t take the game seriously..."

("Once upon a time, long, long ago in a country far, far away, there lived in the County of Kildare, a very holy woman named Brigid. She was in fact the abbess of a monastery of brothers and nuns with a few priests. Brigid was a very effective abbess. The monastery was always neat and clean, the sacred hours were sung punctually and well, the fields were well maintained...")

("Thirty years ago this month a group of young Chicago suburban housewives with small children were intrigued by the changes in the Church. They wanted to know more about what it all meant. However, with the demands of family they were unable to attend any of the evening lectures offered in their community...")

("Thirty years ago this month a group of young Chicago suburban housewives with small children were intrigued by the changes in the Church. They wanted to know more about what it all meant. However, with the demands of family they were unable to attend any of the evening lectures offered in their community...")

("When Sister Mary Corita was asked to submit a piece of her artwork for consideration in the Vatican exhibit at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair, she chose to do a piece on the Beatitudes. Although it was not finally selected for the exhibit, the 4' by 40' banner is a dynamic, vibrant testament to Christ's message. Splashed with vivid color and dense with text, Corita's work pulses with the power of blessing...")

"Testimony of Hope is a beautiful book written by then Archbishop, now Cardinal, Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. Cardinal Nguyen was imprisoned for 16 years and for 9 of those years was in solitary confinement. The pectoral cross that he wears is one that he made from scraps of barb wire from his days in prison. In his conferences the Cardinal related much of his own experience of imprisonment and the spiritual growth that it fostered in his soul..."

A woman went into a marketplace, looked around, and saw a sign that read: ‘God’s Fruit Stand.’ “Thank goodness. It’s about time,” she said to herself. She went inside and she said, “I would like a perfect banana, a perfect cantaloupe, a perfect peach and six perfect strawberries.” God, who was behind the counter, shrugged and said, “I’m sorry. I sell only seeds”

("If you've ever seen the television show Walker: Texas Ranger starring Chuck Norris, you've seen 'silent strength' when Walker stands silently as the bad guys berate him. As he stands silently, you and I who are watching know that black belt champion Chuck Norris can lay them flat in three seconds...")

When I was in Junior High I watched a movie called The Hiding Place which told the story of a family from Holland who were eventually sent to concentration camps because they helped to hide Jews from the Nazis. The TenBoom family were watchmakers and committed Christians. Their home was always an open house for anyone in need...

("Epiphany concludes next Sunday on the Feast of Bowls in the Season of the Playoffs. The Season of the Playoffs is a season of preparation and anticipation which reaches its end on the high holy day called 'Super Bowl Sunday'. Today we are in the 'off week' as the players and teams and fans rest. They all take a Sabbath week to prepare for the Feast of Bowls...")

Let me tell you about one of those few who truly joined Jesus in life's good adventure. His name is Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, the capital of the tiny nation of El Salvador in Central America. He was the archbishop from February of 1977 to March of 1980, I knew him well. I may have been his closest Protestant friend...

("I never thought, in a sermon, I would be quoting from the comedian, George Carlin. He became famous for his routine The Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television. Lest you worry, this is not a list of seven words you can’t say in church. Instead, George Carlin has come up with a list of imponderables. Here are some of them...")

("There was a young man who wanted to discover the way to truth, goodness and salvation. The young man came to Buddha and asked him to show him the way to salvation. Buddha took the young man down to the river and out into the middle of the river where it was waist deep. Buddha took the young man by the back of the neck and put his head under water..." and other illustrations)

Last week a Kelowna teenager, Glenn Edwards, was killed in a police shootout. Catherine Green, whom he had taken as a hostage, was shown on television immediately after the incident asking "Is he going to be alright." It wasn’t an idle remark, it came from genuine concern. It may not surprize you that some in our community were horrified at her remark. She simply should have been grateful that the streets were rid of a repeat offender. One less person that would mark them as a target for home invasion. Please don’t judge those whose fear has stripped them of compassion. The fear is real. It is as real as the poverty that has stripped kids on the street of hope. Wednesday’s paper had a headline "Nice guy or violent thug?" It quoted a friend of Glenn Edwards as saying "He was a nice guy…everyone around here liked him. If you didn’t have a place to go or food in your stomach, he’d always help you out." I read the words and then looked at the picture of his friend. It was Thomas. Thomas had moved to Kelowna two years ago, lived just up the street, went to KSS, the high school two blocks away, first semester he had a B report card, then C, then D, then he dropped out, came to our Youth Group, helped with morning coffee, a Weaver had visited the home. He came asking if there was something to do to help, a very likeable, lost looking kid. We haven’t seen Thomas lately, he is no longer at his family home, he is just another kid of the street...

The Monty Python movie “The Life of Brian” formally begins with Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount, but the focus is on the people on the fringe of the crowd—we listen in on their conversation. “What was that?” “I don’t know. I was too busy talking … I think it was ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers.’” “Ahh, what’s so special about the cheesemakers?” “Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.” “See? If you hadn’t been going on, we’d have heard that… Oh, come on. Let’s go to the stoning. …Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo, as far as I can tell” … Yeah. Well, what Jesus blatantly fails to appreciate is that it’s the meek who are the problem. Yes, yes. Absolutely. Yes, I see.” And at that point a fight breaks out and the message of Jesus isn’t heard...

J.B. Phillips once wrote a set of Beatitudes thinking of how the world actually worked. “Happy are the pushers for they get on in the world. Happy are the hard-boiled for they never let life hurt them. Happy are they who complain for they get their own way in the end Happy are the blasé for they never worry over their sins. Happy are the slave drivers for they get results. Happy are the knowledgeable people of the world for they know their way around. Happy are the troublemakers for they make people take notice of them.”...

("Harold Kushner tells an old Hassidic story of the rabbi who hired a horse and carriage to take him to a neighbouring village. The carriage was making its way along a road with fruit trees and orchards on either side. At one point, the coachman stopped by the side of the road and told his passenger, 'I'm going to climb over the fence and steal some of that fruit...")

("Mark Twain once wrote a piece that might help us get back on track. Actually he came up with a new translation for our modern culture. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit; for they shall be poor in purse. Blessed are they that mourn; for none shall come near to disturb them. Blessed are the meek; for everyone shall give them an opportunity for the display of their meekness...")

("Once upon a time there was a kingdom of people who pursued happiness. Nothing was more important to them than being happy. The pursuit of happiness was written into their charter. And the happier they became, the happier they wanted to be. The source of the people's happiness was a magic Happiness Machine...")

When I was a youth minister I walked into Sunday school one morning to teach. I was the teacher of the Senior High class. When I walked into the class I kind of knew I was in trouble. Most of the teenagers obviously had a big Saturday night. Several of them were trying to fall asleep, a few were staring vacantly through the walls, and several others were busy gossiping about Saturday night's activities. I could tell they were not interested in Sunday school that day. Undaunted I started to get things ready to teach. One young lady looked at me and said, "I have a question. Why are there so many Gospel stories? They don't agree with each other all the time. How do we know which one is real?" In response, I took my wallet out of my back pocket. Quickly I threw the wallet toward the big window behind the couch. There were three teenagers sitting on the couch. I didn't quite throw the wallet high enough to clear them. The wallet was headed right at the nose of one of the young men. He quickly threw his hand up in front of his face. The wallet hit his hand, went by his head, hit the window, and fell on the floor behind the couch. When the wallet hit Patrick's hand everyone was suddenly wide-awake. I quickly pointed to four different youth at various points in the room and asked them the same question. "What did you see? What did you see? What did you see?" Wouldn't you know I received four completely different answers? The following discussion about the event was one of the best Sunday school lessons we ever had. The young lady's question was the catalyst for the whole morning...

("During the Christmas season the parties of the rich were very good but the parties of the poor were just fantastic. At the parties of the rich people stood around sipping expensive drinks and eating expensive food and eyeing one another self-consciously. 'Am I in the right company? am I appropriately dressed? do people notice me?...")

("A classic movie It's a Wonderful Life is about a man who runs a Savings and Loan. George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is the town's favorite son; he gives up his dreams of adventure to stay home and take over the family bank. One Christmas season a large deposit of cash is mislaid; there is a run on the bank, and George faces ruin..." and discussion of several popular titles like How to Make Friends and Influence People)

("A perceptive visitor to the Rockefeller Center in New York City is surely reminded of the impact the Greatest Sermon Ever Preached has had on the world. On the first floor of the building one finds an extensive series of murals depicting man's technological progress in the mastery of nature. Amid these many representations of mankind's glorious achievements stands one mural which at first glance seems out of place. It is a representation of Christ teaching on the Mount..." and other quotes)

("Frederick William IV of Prussia once visited a school and asked the children some questions. Pointing to the stone on his ring, a flower in his button-hole, and a bird that flew past the window, he asked to what kingdom each of them belonged. The children gave him the right answers: the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdom..." and several other illustrations and quotes - recommended!!)

("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...")

("If Jesus had said: Blessed are the rich, for they will always be catered to. Blessed are those who laugh, for they have a good time at the expense of others. Blessed are those who are strong, for they will be able to fight their way out of most difficult situations. Blessed are those who have it made, for they will never be hungry or thirsty...")

("Bryce Courtenay, in his autobiographical novel The Power of One, begins with a chilling and yet wonderful episode. It begins with a six year old boy. He is an English little boy. His father has been killed by a rogue elephant and his mother has gone into a sanitarium after the killing of his father...")

("Tony Campolo wrote a book a few years ago Who Switched the Price Tags? In his introduction he says: 'When I was a boy in Philadelphia, October 30 had special significance. The night before Halloween was designated as Mischief Night. On that night, the adults of our neighborhood braced themselves against all sorts of petty 'crimes' at the hands of the younger generation..." and another quote)

("Two young men in a village in India were close friends. although one had wealthy parents, while the other was the son of a poor widow. One day the rich young man persuaded his friend to join him in a criminal activity, they were caught, brought before the magistrate, and found guilty they were sentenced to pay a fine or go to prison. The rich boy paid the fine and was released at once. The one who had no money had to serve a prison term..." and several others)

("Philip Yancey points out in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, 'Any Greek scholar will tell you the word "blessed" is far too sedate and beatific to carry the percussive force Jesus intended. The Greek word conveys something like a short cry of joy, 'Oh, you lucky person!'…'How lucky are the unlucky!' Jesus said in effect..." and other illustrations)

("In October 1998, Mitch, a category 5 hurricane, struck Honduras with such devastation that thousands of lives were lost and one-third of the population became homeless. Just over five months later I went there as the guest of a philanthropist parishioner. It turned out to be the first of nine trips. My heart was broken and then stolen by what I saw and heard...")

Although from 2010, this article might be worth a read given the current political climate!!

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