Good news?

I associate all my deep spiritual experiences with mountains. In the hills of Antipolo and of Mirador in Baguio, in the mountains of the Philippines and China, I have communed with God in nature. From biblical times, God has been known to reveal himself in high places, which is why Israel has many sacred mountains. In today’s gospel, the Son of God addresses us from a high place in what has come down to us as the “Sermon on the Mount.”

The fifth chapter of Matthew is dedicated to Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God. He challenges many human ideas about what it means to be happy or blessed. To paraphrase the words of Jesus, the blessed are those who depend totally on God, who grieve the reality of personal and communal sin, who are honest with themselves, who greatly desire holiness, who forgive others, who are clean of heart, who help reconcile the estranged, who accept suffering for what is right — it is they who are blessed. 

It all sounds very daunting. Who can live up to these beatitudes?  Most of us probably nod our heads to these lofty ideals of Jesus, but do not see how we can possibly live them. We can go our merry way knowing that we could never hope to be the holy person Jesus describes. 

But there is another way of seeing these beatitudes. We often see them as statements of ideals, but we can also see them as statements of reality. The beatitudes point us to people and situations who give us a glimpse of the kingdom of God. 

I wouldn’t look to the news headlines for such glimpses of the kingdom.  There we are treated only to conflicts that are stretched for their ability to both scandalize and entertain us. Even during the time of Jesus, such conflicts were in abundance, and yet he brings his disciples up a mountain to tell them that the kingdom of God is present not as a pie in the sky, but as a reality here and now.

It is easier to notice the powerful, the aggressive, the accomplished ones; those who promote themselves, those who win competitions, those who get elected.  But they are a tiny minority if you consider how vast the human community is. 

Look around your family and community. Do you not see people whose faith demonstrates their need of God? Are there not simple, honest people who work hard? Isn’t there a kind-hearted soul in your circle of friends, or someone who is silently suffering for the sake of some higher purpose? 

In a world of so much darkness, such people are flashes of light. To give just one example, my friend Edi Sian has contributed two articles in the slim book, Profiles Encourage, which gives us examples of Filipinos who have quietly devoted themselves to serving others. Edi wrote about Dr. Jaime Alip, who founded an organization that provides microfinance facilities to more than 300,000 poor women, and John Burtkenley Ong, a hydrogeologist who has harnessed his knowledge of science to help rural communities from Mindoro to Mindanao. They are only two of so many Filipinos who are living the beatitudes without making any claims to it.

Glimpses of God’s kingdom are all around us, if we have the eyes to see.  The season of Lent will be upon us in a few days. A good way to spend it is to actively search for the good news of God’s beatitudes in the people around you, or better yet, be a beatitude yourself.  

Just go through the list of beatitudes, and choose one that you will live more deeply during the season. You may need to detach yourself from things and people, so as to realize your nothingness before God. You may need to admit your selfishness. You may need to be more honest, humble, or merciful. You may be called to mediate between people in conflict. You may need to transform some inevitable suffering in your life into an act of love. Whatever it is, make it your Lenten offering, and you will have the blessings God has promised in the Sermon on the Mount.

(Fr. Jesus Fernandez, SJ, has retired from writing this column. Younger Jesuits take over starting today.)