Tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm we will be able to open our church for personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. One small step that will eventually lead to having Mass with a limited number of people. The building of the church is so important for Catholics, for it allows us to gather together and celebrate the beautiful meal of the Eucharist, rooted in Christ’s sacrificial love. The church of St. Teresa’s has a unique beauty to it, given it’s small, intimate size, bring a “place” for striking Icons, a baptismal font that “speaks” lots of water, the altar that gathers us, and the windows stretching above and across the sanctuary with the words of the Beatitudes etched in color.
As we gaze at the altar, as the Eucharist is being celebrated, as bread and wine are transformed into Body and Blood, those words of beatitude echo in heart and architecture. The color that surrounds each beatitude is BLUE, the color of water...BAPTISM, the Sacrament that lives and breathes within the hearts gathered in the church. The Spirit is bubbling up within as we gaze up, realizing that every Eucharist nourishes us to live each beatitude.
Jesus teaches us in today’s gospel, just as he taught those early disciples, that the very foundation of his gospel and Kingdom, the foundation of his church, is rooted in these eight blessings. In the mind and heart of Jesus, to be blessed is to be poor in spirit, merciful, gentle; to be blessed means being a peacemaker, have a pure heart focused on justice, standing up for what is right and true no matter the cost.
Beatitude living is Gospel living, and living them isn’t easy. These are soul searching times for all of us, a time to examine our individual conscience and national conscience. A great way to individually engage in this examination is to pray the beatitudes; reflect on each one and how you are living them; which one presents the most challenge?; do you feel your life is blessed in ways described by these beatitudes?
Peace,
Fr. Frank