Tough Jobs

Fulfilling the job requirements of a saint  

Matthew 5:1-12A  

         When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.  

 

          What would you say is the toughest, most demanding, most grueling job in the world, besides being the administrator of Trinity Junior High? Most people would agree that being the president of the United States or the pope of the Catholic Church have to be close to the top of that list. As president you walk in the footsteps of Washington and Lincoln, and as pope you stand in the shadows of St. Peter and St. John Paul II, men who were larger than life.   

          And yet, in spite of the overwhelming responsibility of those respective offices, do you know what the requirements are of those two jobs? It’s amazing how minimal it is: there are only two. To be president, you have to be at least 35 years old, and you have to be a native born citizen. That’s why there was so much controversy about President Obama’s birth certificate, and Ted Cruz’s being born in Canada. To be elected the pope, you also only need to fulfill two criteria: be baptized and be a male.  That means that Michael Vincent could be the pope someday and that Jayson Toney could be the president of the United States – God help us! Now, obviously, all those who aspire to be president or pope have a lot more qualifications than that. But it’s still surprising what the minimum threshold is for two of the toughest and most powerful positions in the world.   

          In the gospel today, Jesus delivers his “Sermon on the Mount,” and explains essentially the job requirements to be a saint, and there’s nothing “minimal” about it. Jesus enumerates his eight beatitudes and states what it takes to be a saint, namely, you have to be “poor in spirit,” and “mourn,” and “meek,” and “hunger for righteousness,” and “merciful,” and “clean of heart,” and “peacemakers,” and “persecuted for righteousness sake.” I don’t know about you, but I was knocked out of the running after Jesus mentioned, “poor in spirit.” In other words, the standard to be a saint is a lot higher than that to be president or pope. And indeed, it should be: it’s as high as the heavens are above the earth.   

          Boys and girls, what do you want to be when you grow up? Even though you’re in junior high, it’s not too early to ponder the possibilities of a profession. Do any of you aspire to president of this country: we could certainly use some more candidates to choose from. Do any of you want to play professional sports (Salamon Amador), or play in the symphony (Angelica Pham), or maybe become the scientist who finally cures cancer (Cate Albertson), or join the U.S. Olympic track and field team (Alex Osburn). All of these professions would be impressive and you already have the talent to reach those heights.    But at Trinity, we want you to reach even higher than those professions, we want you to reach as high as heaven and strive to become saints.

          This past week on retreat, you started to fulfill some of those “job requirements” (that’s what a retreat is for), like being meek and humble, being merciful and kind to each other, clean of heart and staying away from sexting and immoral social sites on the internet, and being peacemakers with each other. Heck, Parker Yelverton and I worked together to bring down that stubborn hoolahoop! Last week on St. Mary’s Mountain, you all started fulfilling the job description of a saint - that’s what was really going on atop that mountain.    On this feast of All Saints, let’s look to heaven and see those holy ones who have fulfilled a higher job than any pope or president. We admire them and we try to imitate them, so that one day, where they are, we too, may be.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!