June 8
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Monday - Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
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| Photo created by Google AI Image Creator. |
Jesus sat down on a hillside
and began to teach.
No Temple, or altar, no
ceremony. Just an open hillside, and a crowd of ordinary hungry people, and
Jesus speaking words that would echo through every century that followed. He
wasn't quoting scripture or debating the Pharisees. He was describing a
completely different way of seeing the world, one that turned everything the
crowd thought they knew completely upside down.
Blessed are the poor in
spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the persecuted.
Eight very powerful
statements, each one a gentle earthquake.
The world says blessed are
the powerful. Blessed are the comfortable. Blessed are the ones who win. Jesus
looked at that list and turned it completely over.
He wasn't describing a
checklist. He was describing a portrait. And if you hold all eight up together
and look carefully, you realize He was describing one person above all others, a
young woman from Nazareth who said yes before any of them knew there was a yes
to say. Poor in spirit. Pure in heart. Acquainted with mourning. Meek enough to
let God do whatever He wanted with her life. Persecuted, standing at the foot
of a cross when nobody else could bear to watch.
Every Beatitude is a painting
of Our Lady.
I am no saint; I, too, have my share
of battles. My words can get sharp sometimes. I don't apologize when I share
the truth. But I know this much: I would surrender it all any day just to be in
the eternal presence of God. That's just me letting my love for Jesus decide
who comes first. And in my life, Jesus always comes first. Every single day.
Period!
Our Lady of the Miraculous
Medal appeared to St. Catherine Laboure in Paris and placed in her hands one of
the most powerful sacramentals in the history of the Church. She didn't appear
to a bishop or a theologian. She appeared to a young novice who was poor in
spirit, pure in heart, and hungry for God. Catherine recognized every Beatitude
in the woman standing before her.
So did the hillside crowd
that day in Galilee; they just didn't know her name yet.
Something to sit with today:
Jesus gave us the
Beatitudes not as a checklist but as a roadmap, eight descriptions of a soul
moving closer to God. Here's a brief look at what each one means spiritually:
Blessed are the poor in
spirit:
Those who know they need God completely in their lives. No self-sufficiency.
Rather, total dependence on God.
Blessed are those who mourn: Those who grieve their
own sin and the world's sin, and they let that grief draw them ever closer toward
God’s mercy.
Blessed are the meek: Those who have
surrendered the need to control, dominate, or prove themselves. They surrender
completely to God’s will in their lives.
Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness: Those with a deep, aching desire to live rightly
before God, not just occasionally, but constantly.
Blessed are the merciful: Those who extend to
others the same grace they've needed themselves. Your compassion and love for
others have you reaching out.
Blessed are the pure in
heart:
Those whose intentions are undivided, what they show the world matches what God
sees inside. God knows what is in our hearts.
Blessed are the peacemakers: Those who actively build
bridges: in their families, in their friendships, and in the community,
reflecting God's reconciling love.
Blessed are those
persecuted for righteousness: Those who have paid a real cost for standing with God.
Standing up for God without fear.
Each of these is less a
personality type and more a place the soul lives, and most of us live somewhere
between several of them at once.
So, here's the question
worth your full honesty:
Which Beatitude describes
where you actually live in your life right now, and which one describes where
God is still trying to take you?
Live a life that is
pleasing to God, seeking Him first, doing your best to follow His Will in your
life. Do not let this world mislead you and direct you further away from Jesus.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
