Blessed are the persecuted

 

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:10)

When Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12) including the beatitude about the reward for enduring persecution, Herod’s recent murder of John the Baptist may have been painfully in His mind and that of the crowd.  I wonder if Jesus fought back tears as He spoke these words.  I wonder if His audience did.

The juxtaposition of this beatitude with the gospel account of the beheading of John the Baptist haunts me a little; I can feel the personal impact that John’s murder must have had on Jesus.  This beatitude suggests to me that Jesus had come to terms with the murder of His cousin by offering the Kingdom of heaven as a reward both to His listeners who might face persecution for following Him and to future generations of persecuted people.

John the Baptist seems terribly relevant to our time – not just a figure who was popular in grade school saint quizzes because of the gory pictures of his head being delivered to Herod.  John was rough but fearless in fighting for righteousness.  He was one of the first saints who inspired others to do the same.

In our era, I think, for example, of people like Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero, the Jesuits and the nuns who were murdered in El Salvador for fighting for justice for the poor.  I think of Saint Mother Teresa, who fought ceaselessly for the dignity of the poorest of the poor and was quite often rebuked and ridiculed for her beliefs.  I think of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was killed for his belief in racial equality.  They were as tough and zealous in their own ways as John the Baptist. They suffered the same fate and received (I assume) the same reward. 

I hope and pray that all of us who think about John the Baptist and this Beatitude will gain both a new insight into the humanity of Jesus and have the courage to take just a few more risks in our own communities “for the sake of righteousness.”  We may pay a modest price, but Jesus has promised us the Kingdom of heaven if we live this beatitude.

God bless all who are already doing so, like my daughter and thousands of other immigration lawyers like her around the world who tirelessly work for justice for immigrants and are frequently maligned by others.  Like many thousands of doctors, teachers, and priests around the world who are in danger constantly because they ignore unjust political pressures and still minister to their fellow human beings.  The Kingdom of heaven will surely be theirs.