Slaves

It is with great shame that I think I have spent a lifetime seeking idols to worship rather than slaves with whom to pray…

Crucifixion (Salvador Dali)

I have long reflected on the Beatitudes.  These are so revolutionary.  If you really stop and think about them, the Beatitudes are completely bizarre.  God came to Earth, took human form and then went out of His way to tell everyone that everything was the opposite of what you would expect.  He told us that the poor were rich and the rich were poor.  He told us that those who are weeping will laugh and those who are excluded are blessed.  Those who are hated would be loved.

“Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.’” (Luke 6:20-26).

Imagine how confronting and utterly strange these sorts of ideas would have been twenty centuries ago!  Even today – having known about them for twenty centuries, we humans still struggle to understand those Beatitudes.  How common is it for a young child to aspire to be outcast and poor and reviled?  How common is it for people of this world to admire those who are the poorest and the weakest?  Nobody looks around and thinks to themselves, there is a poor homeless person who is rejected by all society and I want to be just like them!  I certainly do not.

And yet, Christ called us to reflect on this.

Christ understood that we would not want to be weak and poor and alone.  He knows that we are proud creatures who would seek our own personal advancement at any cost.  I knows my weakness.  He sees me pushing myself ahead.  He knows that I am unable to curb my impatience and pride and greed.  And still He calls me to listen to His words.  Still He calls me to follow His directions.

In the seventeenth century, Saint Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit priest, travelled to Columbia seeking missionary work.  He served the ten thousand slaves per year and fought for the abolition of the slave trade.  It is estimated that some three hundred thousand slaves were personally baptised by the Saint during his lifetime.  For in those souls the Saint saw the Beatitudes in the flesh…

And I wonder today, as I flick through magazines and trawl through the internet, whether I am seeking slaves or idols…  And it is with great shame that I think I have spent a lifetime seeking idols to worship rather than slaves with whom to pray…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.