Compassionate about the poor                                 Bill  Mulcahy  (Brisbane)                                  Bill's previous articles

 February 24, 2012                                                         “Blessed are You”                                                   www.spiritofthebush.net

So says Jesus in Luke 6:20 “ Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”. This account is from Luke, a Gentile convert who was primarily addressing a poor gentile audience, often slaves, persecuted and suffering. How strange it must be for the poor, the persecuted, the weak, and the hungry to hear the words: “Blessed are you”.

Who wants to be poor, or hungry, or be hated? We see these scenes graphically displayed in our electronic world. Scenes of poverty, hunger, sadness and hatred   and the suffering they must cause. Jesus is not saying that poverty, sadness, hunger or hatred is a blessing. Instead Jesus said that people are blessed when they are poor, hungry, weeping and hated. Poverty, hunger, sadness and hatred are not blessings but these conditions of need and dependence make us rely on God. They are crosses that draw us closer to God. Whatever our cross, its purpose is to bring us closer to God.

I have often wondered what Jesus actually looked like. I have relied on artwork or sculptures to form this wondering. Would I recognise him if he walked down the street? Face to face? Remember the song by Joan Osborne titled One of Us : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYZKZfdr3ac

But we see Jesus’ face every day. The Resurrection appearances (Mary Magdalene, Road to Emmaus, Doubting Thomas) were a sign of how he would be with us – as a gardener, a stranger walking, a service person knocking on our door, the starving child, the homeless man in the mall, the Indigenous man asking for a feed, the boat person fleeing to our shores… The Blessed are You, the Beatitudes, that allows us to truly recognise Jesus. Do you see Him? I do……