Good morning , Gentle Reader, and Happy Saturday. I am going to continue today with the theme of my ongoing practice of memorizing the Sermon on the Mount in Spanish. Here are the Beatitudes, or as we call them in the language of Cervantes, los Dichosos:
"Dichosos los pobres en espíritu, porque el reino de los cielos les pertenece.
Dichosos los que lloran porque serán consolados.
Dichosos los que tienen hambre y sed de la justicia, porque serán saciados.
Dichosos los humildes, porque recibirán la tierra como herencia.
Dichosos los compasivos, porque serán tratados con compasión.
Dichosos los limpios de corazón, porque ellos verán a Dios.
Dichosos los que trabajan por la paz, porque serán llamados hijos de Dios.
Dichosos los perseguidos por causa de la justicia, porque el reino de los cielos les pertenecen.
Dichosos serán ustedes cuando la gente los insulte, les persiga, y levante en contra de ustedes todas clases de calumnia. Alégrense, y llénense de jubilo, porque les espera una gran recompensa en el cielo, así también persiguieron a los profetas que les precedieron a ustedes."
In English:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn because they shall be comforted.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the meek, because they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be treated with mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are those who work for peace, because they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are all of you when people insult you, persecute you, and raise all kinds of strife against you. Rejoice, and be full of gladness, because a great reward awaits you in heaven, because so also were persecuted the prophets that came before you.
Repeating these words several times a day, I suppose, can be tiresome at times, but as a rote exercise it is helping to inscribe in my soul the words of Jesus. And it is having an effect. I am assured by the constant repetition of these words that it is okay not to be perfect. It is okay to be poor in spirit, to not be obsessed with having self-esteem, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. It's okay to weep and mourn, for the state of the world, over our own weaknesses and failings, over our own sense of lack, and we have the hope of being comforted. And those seem to be the preconditions for longing for righteousness, justice, a better world and to be better people, with the promise that we will be satisfied.
It is okay to be meek, to live unnoticed and perhaps unloved, to be one of God's invisible children, attracting to ourselves no attention. The earth is our heritage. Humility teaches us compassion, to be merciful, and so we receive mercy and compassion, and this is all part of the process of giving us pure and clean hearts which become the lens through which God in his tender love and majesty reveals himself. We become by fiat peace makers, those who work for peace. We are transformed into people of reconciliation.
This really puts us out of step with a world that idolizes and adulates selfishness and strength, and the very beauty of holiness that fills the lives of those who are people of the beatitudes threatens the very order of a world that hates God and all things that are truth and love. Of course we are going to be persecuted, if not actively, then passively, when we go through life ignored, unnoticed, invisible to others while our very hearts are breaking.
This is the legacy of those who have gone before us. This is the legacy of holiness. This is the legacy of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment