The Chosen. It is a series dramatizing the life and teachings of Jesus. It can be streamed on YouTube. It’s absolutely wonderful. I’m sure many of you have seen it. The person portraying Jesus was mesmerizing. He presents Jesus as a real person, laughing, crying, loving, angry, sometimes tired, or even exhausted by the work he was doing. He only speaks a few words at the very end of the first episode but they gripped my heart. Throughout the series I listened to the words he spoke, words I’ve read so many times. Somehow, they touched me in a way they never have before. I often teared up with emotion. I’ve spoken with others who have had the same reaction.

This experience made me realize something. I’ve studied the teachings of Jesus. I know them, and I teach them. But somehow, I’ve never really connected them to the living person of Jesus. There was something about Jesus that drew people to him, something that made a deep impression on them. They listened to his little stories and heard a message that changed their lives. If I was moved to tears listening to an actor recite them, I would have been a basket case had I heard the teaching coming directly from his lips.

As I read the scripture passages for today, I realized that the entire gospel passage consisted of quotes, short teachings of Jesus’ that were meant to root the Beatitudes in the lives of the everyday people he was addressing. Since the entire gospel passage consists of one short teaching after another, I thought I would get out of the way. There’s nothing I could possibly add to make his teaching more profound.

Instead, I invite you to close your eyes and imagine the face of Jesus. Bring him down to earth through this visualization. I believe that God will reveal the face that each one needs to see. Look at his face and listen while he speaks directly to you.

WE’LL BEGIN WITH A PRAYER:

Jesus, my Lord and my God, I close my eyes and gaze on your face, an infant face with closed eyes and moist lips. I see your face wide with teenage laughter. I see your face dripping sweat as you dance at a wedding in Cana. I see your face reflecting candlelight as you divide the loaf of bread. I see your face wet with pain in Gethsemane. I see your face ablaze with resurrection light. Lord Jesus, open my eyes that I might see you speak your message to me.

JESUS SPEAKS: To you who hear, I say…

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.

(pause – look at the face of Jesus and listen to him teach you)

Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

(pause – look – listen)

Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

(pause – look – listen)

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.

(pause – look – listen)

Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

(pause – look – listen)

Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.

And so it is. Amen. Thank you, Lord.

Let’s begin with Luke’s chronology leading up to the sermon on the mount, the focus of our reflection today. Jesus had left his group of close disciples and retired to an isolated area atop a high hill where he spent the night in prayer. In the morning he returned only to find that his group of disciples had been joined by many more. In addition, inquisitive Jews from Judaea and Jerusalem joined them along with Gentiles from the coastal areas of Tyre and Sidon, today’s Lebanon. Many came to him seeking healing. Some believed that if they could only touch him, they would be cured by the power that came out of him. But before he addressed the crowd, he chose twelve men out of this large group. He called them apostles.

It might be helpful to clarify the difference between a disciple and an apostle. A disciple is a student who has been invited by a rabbi to join his group of students. An apostle, apostolos in Greek, is an envoy or ambassador, one who is sent on a mission to a foreign country. Jesus was beginning to assign roles among this new community of followers.

“Raising his eyes toward his disciples,”

Jesus began his most important teaching. The beatitudes, and the woes that follow, laid out the fundamental principles of the new society that Jesus envisioned. He called it the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. What he envisioned was a total reversal of the world as we know it.

For your reflection, I’m going to match each beatitude with its woeful counterpart. That will give us the black and white of his teaching. I’ll follow that with a related teaching from the Gospel – an application of sorts of the beatitude and the woe.

The first teaching:

“Blessed are you who are poor for the kingdom of God is yours.”

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”

Practical application: “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13))

The second teaching

“Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.”

“But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.”

Practical application: “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. (Luke 12:22-23)

The third teaching:

“Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.”

“But woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.”

Practical application: “Some men came to him carrying a paralyzed man on a bed and tried to carry him into the house to put him in front of Jesus. Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to get him in. So, they carried him up to the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith they had he said, ‘Your sins are forgiven, friend.” (Luke 518-20)

The fourth teaching:

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.”

“But woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in the same way.”

Practical application: “They will seize and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony.” (Luke 21:12-13) ________

The beatitudes and their corresponding woes highlight Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God. He taught that it was already here in germinal form, in the hearts of believers, slowly manifesting itself on earth through our sacrificial love. He modeled that love in his life, and his death on the cross.

Jesus didn’t give us an easy path to follow. He was serious when he taught us: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke: 9 23) The cross that so many of us wear around our neck isn’t just a pretty talisman. It’s a reminder to the one who wears it, and the people who look at it, that the kingdom of God is ready to manifest itself. The cross we wear challenges us to manifest the kingdom by loving as Jesus loved totally, completely, sacrificially.

The story of the call of Simon and the miraculous catch of fish is the subject of our reflection today. Here’s how we get to this account. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is just beginning his ministry. He announced himself as the Messiah in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. The people rejected him and even tried to kill him. He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum. The people in that synagogue accepted his teaching. While he was there he liberated a man possessed by an unclean spirit who cried out, “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” From that moment on, the word about Jesus began to spread like wildfire. He left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house and cured his mother-in-law who was very ill with a fever. He continued his travels through Judea. He cured many people along the way. Demons often witnessed to him as he exorcised them by crying out, “You are the Son of God!”

He began preaching along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a large body of water, thirteen miles long and eight miles wide and very deep, six hundred and eighty feet deep at its lowest point. Many fishing towns surrounded the lake.

As the crowd listening to Jesus began to grow, he looked around and saw two boats along the shore. They belonged to Simon and his partners, Zebedee and his sons, James and John. He asked to use one of the boats as a stage so that the people might hear him better.

When he had finished teaching he told Simon to take the boat out to deeper water and to cast his nets. Fishing was often done at night and Simon was just coming off a very unsuccessful night. He had caught nothing. Reluctantly, Simon obeyed the request. To everyone’s surprise, there was such a tremendous catch that Simon had to call his partners to bring their boats over to assist him. The catch filled both boats!

The event threw Simon and the others for a loop. Simon fell to his knees overwhelmed by an intense sense of sinfulness. The others stood there, struck with astonishment. Jesus reassured them telling them, “Do not be afraid.” He then said something they probably didn’t quite understand at the time, “From now on you will be catching men.” But the event, and Jesus’ words, were so powerful that “when they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.”

Why did Jesus tell these fishermen not to be afraid? It seems a bit strange, doesn’t it? After a bit of research, I discovered that the phrase is used 365 times in the New Testament. What’s so frightening? Jesus cured people, and liberated people from demonic possession. His message was one of love and compassion, of forgiveness and inclusion. This reading can throw some light on the question.

In the account of the great catch of fish, Jesus called Simon and Andrew, and James and John, to follow him. They didn’t know what that would entail. They were awestruck by the miracle. The invitation seemed like a privilege; the teacher was calling THEM. But they would discover that following him for the next three years wasn’t going to be a piece of cake. It would take them from their families. They would have

no place to call home. They would survive on hand outs or little jobs they got along the way. They would be hated by some just as Jesus was. They would suffer persecution and be expelled from the synagogues. Eventually, eleven of the twelve apostles would suffer martyrdom. Meeting Jesus was wonderful, but saying yes to his invitation was going to be the greatest challenge of their lives.

Pope John Paul II, addressing the massive crowds that attended his Masses and gatherings around the world, often quoted Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid.” Pope Francis repeats those same words. They’re directed to every person who hears in his or her heart, the invitation, “Follow me.” It’s the greatest moment in a person’s life, but it’s the scariest, too. Where will the path lead?

In his call to follow fearlessly, Jesus was asking the apostles, and us, to trust in God – to trust totally and completely. The catch of fish was a prophetic act. It was teaching us that by placing ourselves in God’s hands, and allowing ourselves to be guided by God, we would see tremendous and unheard-of things. Through our faith, God gathers humankind in an embrace of divine love.

Here we are at the first week of February that dark, dull month at the end of Winter. April and the beginning of Spring seem so far away. We tend to nest during the winter months with February inviting us to cover our heads and stay in bed a while longer. Tempting, but not what the Church wants us to do. The Church doesn’t want us to fall asleep in the darkness. So, the Church meets us in this dark place to shed a bit of light – a light filled with hope. At the beginning of this last month of winter, the Church reminds us of Christmas. Forty days ago, we celebrated the birth of the light!

In the gospel reading today, two old people, in the sunset of their lives, hold up the light for a young couple who are beginning their life together. Simeon literally takes the light into his hands, and praises God. “Now Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Then Anna, a prophetess, “gave thanks to God and spoke

about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.” Simeon held up the light. Anna proclaimed its presence.

A simple little story but a tremendous teaching. The earth is leaning away from the sun right now, but it will soon change its position and we’ll feel the warmth of the light soon. We’re reminded by Simeon and Anna that we must never forget that the light is here with us, even in the darkest moments. They remind the “elders” among us of their obligation to keep the light of hope shining for those just beginning their journey of faith. They remind the young and middle aged to grasp onto the light – to let it be a beacon to guide their path.

The Christian journey is one of hope-filled discovery. Christ is the light – always shining in our hearts. We must never forget that he’s with us ready to light up the path we walk. We must never forget that, like Simeon and Anna, we’re witnesses to the light among us. The Church wants us to reach out to the light today, as we begin the slow march to Spring. Let’s hold up the candle of hope .