The Beatitudes of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 5: 1-12), which we hear read on this Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A, after we heard last week of the call of the first disciples, are referred to as a summary of the Gospel. They are said to summarize the way in which the disciples of Jesus are to live and follow the example of His life in the world today.

I think for many of us, when we hear the Beatitudes, or read them ourselves, there are three questions that can come to mind. These are: 1) What would it look like if someone was to live this way? 2) Why should anyone try to live this way? and 3) How can a person in the world today live this way?

Last weekend, following the Sunday Masses, I went to see a movie that offered a very powerful response to all of these questions. The movie was entitled “No Greater Love.” This movie is a documentary about the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta that was produced in the United States by the Knights of Columbus. The movie beautifully depicts the way in which Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta served Christ in the poorest of the poor and followed almost literally the teaching of the Beatitudes, while instructing her Sisters in the Missionaries of Charity to do the same by the way they lived and served the poor around the world. Mother Teresa’s life was a witness to the way in which the Beatitudes invite Christians to turn the values of the world upside down by seeing in each person, especially the poorest of the poor, Christ Himse Continue reading →