The Lectionary for Weekday Mass – Cycle I begins our continuous reading of both the Second Letter to the Corinthians and the Gospel of St. Matthew. Coincidentally, passages from both the readings focus our attention on what some would consider the negatives of human life. However, both St. Paul and St. Matthew are able to explain how Jesus has shifted our understanding to help us embrace what some might consider the downside of human existence.
St. Paul writes: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) These two verses of St. Paul's usual opening of thanksgiving speak directly to those of us who bear some sort of chronic illness or disability and embody a key part of our CUSAN vocation. They remind me of Joseph Cardinal Bernadin who, once he learned that his cancer was a terminal condition, spent a good part of his remaining days visiting and consoling others who struggled with cancer. Disease and illness are part of our human condition, the very reason that God took on our flesh and became human, demonstrating that it was possible to participate in the redemptive love of Jesus.
The passage from St. Matthew's Gospel is the very familiar recitation of the "macarisms" or "beatitudes" which present a list of "negatives" and shows us that God can transform them into positives. These beatitudes are "wisdom sayings" which focus our attention on can happen when we explore the ramifications of human suffering. Those who struggle with Christ will, like Christ, rise above those struggles. Sadness is transformed into happiness. Sorrow is changed into joy. Poverty is counted as riches.
Our psalm response to these readings is my favorite Psalm 34. With the psalmist we pray: I sought the LORD, and he answered me, delivered me from all my fears. Look to him and be radiant, and your faces may not blush for shame. (Psalm 34: 5-6) This prayer embodies yet another principle of CUSA; namely, that through prayer we can discover that God's strength can be our own, and that this strength is part of what transforms our pain into grace.