Blessed are they who mourn, and who act--

Most of us are fairly familiar with the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew; they essentially summarize the whole of the Sermon on the Mount, and they are usually taken as a road map for decent living. Each of the statements flips "worldly expectations" and presents something worth pondering. Some of them are kind of hard to wrap your mind around, given our general human-failings status. Today, while Fr. Ryan explicated each of the phrases in turn, he offered a different understanding for "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Usually, we think of this in terms of when people have lost loved ones and their need for comforting. Fr. Ryan couched his reading in terms of how, when people have come to understand that they have fallen into sinful acts and they are truly sorrowful about their actions, then they will receive comfort. 

Hm. Given the news this week, and in fact, for the last year and change, at least, there has been/is a lot to mourn, as a human community. My mind went to the Tyre Nichols situation, the more than 30 mass shootings in the US this month alone, and myriad abuses of noncombatant people in the war in Ukraine. So much pain caused by humans who insist on their "right" to hurt others, to break the social contract, and all for what? 

I'm no believer in collective guilt, as a general rule. I always hated group punishment for the infractions of a select few; it's not fair, and it only breeds discontent and divisiveness. That said, though, the level of violence that is occurring is, and I'll say it loudly, sinful. Beating someone to death, shooting people for perceived wrongs or political platforms, thrusting children into another country and putting them into adoptive families against their will and the will of their families-- all of this is so immense, so horrible to contemplate. It's no wonder that our forbears believed in mass punishments from a vengeful Creator. 

We must do better, as a human community. While I did not land a kick to a man's face, or pull a trigger, or rip families apart in the name of some monstrous relocation plan, I am a person who knows about all of this. Hand wringing has gotten us nowhere. 

I am mournful, and I'm angry, and I can do something-- if not a large something, then at least a string of somethings that may amount to change. Maybe then, we will be comforted, and if we are able, blessed.

Take care,

C