When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Matthew 5:1-12

It is interesting that there are many who argue for the Ten Commandments to be placed in public spaces. However, no one advocates for the Beatitudes.

If you have to wonder, why not?

Maybe because they are a little too personal. They are not concepts or ideas. The beatitudes point to people who really exist in our midst. People, who no one in their right mind, would consider to be blessed if we are honest.

The very first beatitude is very problematic. It talks about the blessed poor. Being poor is never considered a blessing. We try our best to avoid poverty. Mary and I work with the poorest of the poor. We know what it is like to be poor and we try our best to avoid it. We are concerned about our funds. We think about our future when we are older. We worry about health. We want to prepare ourselves for anything which could drive us into poverty. We are afraid of being poor. No one would consider it a blessed state, not even the poor themselves.

A famous ex-president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, was strangely known for his austere lifestyle rather than his political views. An interviewer once asked him why he chose to live like a poor person despite having access to wealth. He immediately opposed the idea. He said that he was living a simple lifestyle but wasn’t trying to be poor. The poor are people who live in a constant state of lacking their basic needs. He chose not to possess many things because they were not necessary for his happiness.

I think this is a good definition. Poverty is a constant existence of lacking basic things. It is not a condition to be desired and yet Jesus calls the poor blessed.

Jesus never said we need to be poor. Neither did he mean for us to be mourning constantly and not be happy. When he mentioned peacemakers, it doesn’t mean that we have to engage in diplomatic peace relations. When He said about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, it doesn’t mean that we have to participate in a social movement fighting for the justice and equality for all people.

I am not going to go through all the beatitudes. I think you understand where I am going with this. Jesus is not commanding us to become these people. He is talking about people whom he knew.

Our Lord spent thirty years in a poor community. Jesus came from a poor family. In most likelihood, his mother was a widow or a single mother if you want to modernize the idea. Life must not have been easy for Mary to raise Jesus on her own. Jesus dwelled among people who struggled to survive. They were the nobodies. Maybe they wouldn’t have used these terms in His time. Nevertheless, they would be considered the voiceless people with no prominent place in society. Frankly speaking, no one even cared to hear their voices. This was a time before democracy. There was no need for the people in power to woo the votes of these people. They were people to whom no one would pay attention to in an everyday situation. They were the last people whom society would aspire to become. They were considered the insignificant lot.

Very little has changed today. Perhaps some things have become worse since then. I am not the kind of person who believes that the world is getting worse each day although things are not that great now. Nevertheless, we are not especially doomed.

We are just as doomed as the people in Jesus’ times.

One thing seems to be quite prominent in today’s world which is cruelty. Don’t get me wrong, the world has always been a cruel place. The difference is that we live in a time where all the people mentioned in the beatitudes were mocked. The poor were blamed for their poverty; the meek were jeered for their lack of assertion. Those who mourn were ridiculed and called whiners. The pure in heart were considered gullible and naive. We have negative names for all those represented in the beatitudes and mockery has somehow has become a virtue in this upside down world. Actually, the beatitudes is in reality a denouncement of this perverted world.

The beatitudes calls all those whom the world considers as hopeless and useless to be blessed. In the gospel of Luke, the evangelist goes a step further, Jesus even calls all those whom the world considers to be successful to be cursed. However, we will just limit ourselves to the gospel of Matthew.

Jesus begins His public ministry with this strange pronouncement. Jesus is not saying that we should become like them. This is not a new law for us to follow. It is introducing a new mindset. One which is completely incompatible with the world.

The hope revealed in the Kingdom of God is not found in those whom the world deemed as successful. In fact, those who are well adjusted and happy in this world are not interested in what the gospel offers. They won’t be open to understand this hope because they are doing alright in this world. What would motivate them to seek for something better and greater that is able to overcome all darkness? Only those who recognize that this world is broken and hopeless are ready to receive the Kingdom of God.

However, let us not get caught in this the wealth vs poverty mindset. Understanding hope in the Kingdom of Heaven requires us to transcend this mindset. We never understand what it means to have hope in the Kingdom of God without renouncing the illusory hope which this world offers.

This is really a challenge. If it wasn’t challenging then we wouldn’t need to be here in church. We wouldn’t need the sacraments nor the Bible. We live in a world where we are constantly inundated with the false hope and promises which this world offers. Therefore, we need to change our mindset as St Paul aptly tells us,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2

Some, however, like to maintain the mindset of this world. Therefore, they avoid all signs revealing the brokenness of this world. These signs are the poor, the homeless, the destitute, the abandoned elderly, the foreigner who meekly submits to humiliation and violence, the family who mourns for those who were so abruptly taken away from them.

However, as followers of Jesus, we cannot turn a blind eye to these living signs because our relationship with them is essential to our spirituality. They are not blessed in themselves. When we walk with them, together we will discover what it means to be blessed in the Kingdom of God.

Recently, someone asked me how we feel keep ourselves from being discouraged in our ministry to the homeless. It is a fair question. I have to admit before this question was asked, I drew a bleak picture of the future of the young homeless people in our ministry. I shared that most of them in all likelihood would never leave homelessness. Besides these, most of them won’t live long either. Our homeless youth have been in the streets since they were young children. Their diet is unhealthy. They are constantly exposed to the elements; not to mention their substance abuse. Moreover, their intellectual development is stunted due to lack of motivation and stimulation. Therefore, the future looks bleak to them.

All these might be news to us. We, as a middle class people, tend to think that their lives can only be fulfilled and happy when they achieve some of the middle class benefits which we possess. We tend to think that the gospel’s promise of abundant life is the middle class life. We can’t help ourselves from thinking this way because this is who we are. We don’t have to reject who we are but we have to be open to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Now getting back to the question. We will only feel discouraged when we keep insisting that the hope of the gospel is related to success in this world. The situation is only bleak and hopeless when we stand from the outside and observe. Jesus lived among His people. The whole point of Incarnation is participating in the lives of the people. Jesus participated in their lives and He called them blessed.

Our homeless youth are not upset that they will never leave homelessness. They never thought that it was an option. They never thought that this world would be just to them. They never imagined that was possible. They never thought this world would one day comfort them in their suffering. They never imagined it cared about them. Despite all this, they are people who have hope. Perhaps one would ask hope for what? They have hope for Life. Despite having nothing that we would consider as essential for a good and comfortable life, they have hope that they will have a good Life. However, their Hope for Life is to be known and loved.

After all, this is what all of us want when we drive our fancy cars and go to our so-called successful jobs. We hope that these things we possess would draw the attention of those around us. Somehow we think that the things we possess would justify our existence. Our homeless youth have nothing of these things and yet they have hope that they will be known and loved. This hope is present not because they are saintly. The poor are not saintly neither are anyone else mentioned in the beatitudes. Not even those who are pure in heart. Sometimes these can be a little irritating. The hope is present because faith is activated in their hearts. This faith is stirred within their souls because Jesus is present amongst them. Our Incarnate God never left us. He came back through the Holy Spirit and lives more powerful than before. He is present everywhere and wherever He is present, hope abounds.

To answer the question of being encouraged while serving in an apparently dark situation, our encouragement does not come from outside this circumstance. It comes from allowing the Incarnate God awaken our faith to see that the Kingdom of God can bring hope even in the most unlikely situation. Our faith has taught us to listen to the ones whom the world considers as unfortunate. When we allow our faith to be joined with their faith, hope springs forth. This hope renews our understanding of God. This hope renews our souls. We do not get tired or discouraged when we are with the young people. To the contrary, we are healed from the false promises of this world. Our eyes are opened to see that God is building something new and powerful in our midst. It does not involve better material possessions nor career opportunities. It opens our hearts and minds to understand that the Kingdom of God is about being loved and learning to love unconditionally. This Love empowers all of us to live our true identity in Christ. This is what it means to be truly blessed. This beatitudes points us to go and participate in the lives of the people whom the world has deemed as hopeless in order to discover our Savior present among them.

He invites us to join Him.