THE MEMORIAL OF ST PETER CLAVER, SJ. MISSIONARY PRIEST.
THE MEMORIAL OF ST PETER CLAVER, SJ. MISSIONARY PRIEST.
THE GOODNEWS:
"Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.
"Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.
"Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude 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 who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
"But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way." (Luke 6: 20 - 26).
Wednesday September 9th in the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Claver of the Society of Jesus. (1580 - 1654). A Spanish Priest, Religious and Missionary.
St Peter Claver served for over 40 years African slaves dumped at the South American seaport of Cartagena now Colombia. During 40 years, he fed the slaves, cared for the sick and dying. He preached the Good News to them and baptized over 300,000.
It would be humanly impossible for the slaves and Peter Claver to heed these words of Jesus and obey it:
“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." (Matthew 5: 43 - 48).
But grace overcame nature and the slaves taught by St Peter Claver loved their persecutors as Jesus did from the Cross.
St Peter Claver is called the "Slave of slaves." God gave him great love and patience for the suffering slaves. Peter took many of them with him to heaven.
St Luke gives his version of the Beatitudes in Luke 6: 20 - 26).
The Beatitude is a faithful portrait of the character of Jesus the Messiah, the Faithful Servant.
It begins with a key attribute: material poverty. Jesus was born of poor parents in a manger. He lived in a poor neighborhood of Nazareth. After he attained the age of puberty, He became an apprentice carpenter in His father's workshop. Jesus died a poor man.
When Jesus began His teaching with "Congratulations to you who are materially poor..." His audience would have been delighted. Let us head to the Catechism to see what the Church teaches us on the Beatitudes.
"The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith." (CCC 1719).
Man does not live on bread alone. Man does not live on money alone. There is life for man in every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Cf Matthew 4: 4).
"God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us "partakers of the divine nature" and of eternal life. With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life." (CCC 1721)
The Beatitude is the blueprint of our Journey of Faith. Follow it as faithfully as you follow the GPS and it will lead you to our true Homeland.
In September, the Church honors the Sorrowful Heart of Mary. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows obtain for us mercies from her Son Jesus.
For Prayers of Consecration to the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, Litany, Promises of Mary to those who say the Holy Rosary, etc click the link below:
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