I read somewhere that in the schools in Japan every hallway and classroom and public gathering place is neat and clean. Why? Because their culture is different. Each child and each adult has been trained to think, “I am a custodian.” Each and every member of the school community has been trained to think in those terms. “I am a custodian.”
The leaders of the school do not have to hire very many custodians because the community has taken that expectation and that task onto itself. The responsibility for cleanliness has been delegated to the community and the community has responded very well.
My point is this: There is power in the community. The community is a powerful force in many ways - even in everyday tasks like keeping a building clean. The faith community was a powerful force when Jesus was doing his public ministry.
One day Jesus entered the district of the Ten Cities and he was able to heal a man who was deaf and mute. Jesus was able to heal the man because he was surrounded by a community of people who put their faith in him. The Gospel says that the crowd believed in Jesus before the miracle, during the miracle and after the miracle. The crowd had a strong faith and that made it easy for Jesus to perform the miracle.
That situation stood in contrast to what happened in Nazareth. The people of Nazareth were not like the people of the Ten Cities. The people of Nazareth had very little faith and Jesus was able to work only a few miracles there. It was a different milieu.
When a community has a strong faith, Jesus is able to use that faith to make good things happen. When a community is weak in faith, even Jesus can’t accomplish much. And that leads me to a conclusion which is rather obvious: The condition of faith in a community is very important. When a community has a strong faith, Jesus is able to make good things happen.
I’m saying all this to provide background for today’s gospel passage. We need to know about the power of the faith community in order to understand the paradoxical message found in today’s Gospel.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the hungry, Blessed are the grieving, Blessed are the persecuted.” How can he say that? Being poor is miserable. Being hungry is devastating. And grieving is agonizing and being persecuted is painful. How can Jesus say that those painful situations are situations of blessing?
The answer is found in the community. I will give an example. 23 years ago, one of my cousins received the news that she had a blood cancer. A type of cancer which has a long name which I can never remember, much less pronounce. Then she received the news that she needed a bone marrow transplant. And then things began to happen at a very rapid pace.
The community in her hometown put on a benefit to raise money to help with the costs of the treatment. One of her brothers donated the bone marrow that she needed. Then she spent three weeks in isolation at the University Hospital with only one visitor at a time. So her husband and her sisters and sisters in law took turns staying with her. And friends and family members called from time to time to chat with her over the phone. 23 years have gone by and her cancer is still in remission.
I think that she is one of the people who fit the description that Jesus is referring to in today’s gospel. She is simultaneously poor and blessed. She is poor because she has a health condition that is quite serious. She is blessed because her doctors and her family and her friends and neighbors have helped her to live with her disease. She is blessed because the people in her hometown have collected funds to help her pay the bills. She is blessed because many people in many parishes have prayed for her and are continuing to pray for her.
My point is this: If you are surrounded by a faith community you are blessed. You are blessed because you have people responding to your physical needs, and your emotional needs, and your spiritual needs.
In today’s gospel, Jesus also says, “Blessed are the hungry.” How can they be blessed? Well, if parish communities keep giving generously to food shelves, those who are hungry will receive the blessing of food. Those who are hungry will be blessed if we keep giving generously.
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are grieving.” How can they be blessed? When a loved one dies, a large community of family and friends will bring many blessings to the family that is grieving. Sometimes people will say things which are very consoling. But that is not the norm. Usually we don’t know what to say. But we can provide the grieving family with large doses of consolation just by being there. We bring consolation just by being at the church or the funeral home.
In church circles we call this a ministry, namely the ministry of presence, because it means so much for those who are grieving. The grieving family is blessed by the love and support which they receive from all those who come to their side during their time of sorrow.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because they believe in me.” How can anyone say that they are blessed? If we come to their side and stand with them and shoulder their burdens they will feel blessed because they will know that they are not alone.
So the way I see it, people can be blessed when they are weak or hungry or grieving or persecuted if a faith community comes to their assistance.
Let’s take a moment now for silent prayer. Let’s pray that we might continue to be a faith community that brings blessings to those in need. If we do our job as a faith community, if we bring blessings to others, Jesus will once again be able to say,
“Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are the grieving and blessed are those who are persecuted because they believe in me.”