“If you do this one thing you will become a saint. If you don’t do it, you never will. The one thing is this: Let Jesus interrupt your life”

“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.” ― Søren Kierkegaard: (1813 – 1855: was a Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher.

Gospel Text: (MT 5:1-12A)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven."

Yes, as today’s Gospel explains, they are “blessed” for they lived and loved unselfishly. The Beatitudes (blessings) describe the saints — they refused to conform to the values of the world, to live self-centered lives. Rather, they were sensitive to the needs of their neighbors. They chose to be meek rather than arrogant, to live with a poverty of spirit rather than with inflated egos, to work for what is right (God’s will), and to live with pure (sincere) hearts. People may have laughed at them, but the saints got their reward: “theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."