{"id":5126,"date":"2013-11-12T10:38:34","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T09:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=5126"},"modified":"2013-11-14T09:34:29","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T08:34:29","slug":"blessed-are-the-merciful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/blessed-are-the-merciful\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessed are the merciful"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elevation\"<\/a><\/strong>In thy sight are all they that afflict me; <\/em>
\nmy heart hath expected reproach and misery. <\/em>
\nAnd I looked for one that would show me pity, <\/em>
\nbut there was none: <\/em>
\nand for one that would comfort me, <\/em>
\nand I found none. (Psalm 68:20).<\/em><\/p>\n

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can a poor man show mercy to a rich man?
\nCan a sick man show mercy to his physician?
\nCan a blind man show mercy to one who sees?
\nCan a thirsty man show mercy to the one who gives him to drink?
\nCan a hungry man show mercy to the one who feeds him?
\nCan a naked man show mercy to the one who clothes him?
\nCan a weak man show mercy to one who is strong?
\nCan a foolish man show mercy to one who is wise?<\/p>\n

Christ Jesus in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
\nChrist Jesus, King of the universe and off all that it holds,
\nChrist Jesus, the Divine Physician of souls and bodies,
\nChrist Jesus, the light of the world and the giver of sight to the blind,
\nChrist Jesus, the source of living water,
\nChrist Jesus, the living Bread come down from heaven,
\nChrist Jesus, the glorious raiment of the saints,
\nChrist Jesus, in whom is all the power and the wisdom of God
\nhas hidden himself beneath the fragile veil of the Host.<\/p>\n

He appears among us and gives Himself to us
\nunder the appearance of that little piece of bread,
\nsomething pathetically unimpressive and ordinary,
\nsomething so diaphanous and frail
\nthat it can be carried away on a gust of wind,
\nor fall to the ground unnoticed.<\/p>\n

The Sacred Host is God in a terrible nakedness, the nakedness of Calvary.
\nIt is God made powerless and defenseless,
\nGod made vulnerable,
\nGod reduced to utter poverty,
\nGod abandoned into the hands of men.
\nIt is the Word vowed to perpetual silence,
\nthe Countenance of Uncreated Beauty hidden from the gaze of men.
\nIt is God humbled into the lowest lowliness of all.<\/p>\n

The Sacred Host is God seeking the hospitality of men;
\nGod meeting with rejection, indifference, and cold refusals;
\nGod in the hands of the faithless, the unknowing;
\nGod descending into hearts defiled by sin;
\nGod refused reverence and denied the adoration that is His due;
\nGod asking for a little mercy
\nand meeting instead with no pity.<\/p>\n

Is it possible that God should ask for a little mercy on the part of man?
\nWhere are the souls moved to pity by the hidden God?
\nIs there a greater poverty than that of the Host?
\nA more touching vulnerability?
\nA more delicate frailty?
\nWhy has God chosen to hide Himself in this way
\nif not to give man the ineffable possibility
\nof showing mercy to God?<\/p>\n

Here, even the poorest of the poor can give something to God.
\nHere, even the sick man can console the Physician.
\nHere, even the blind man can offer a little light to the Sun.
\nHere, even the parched man can quench the thirst of the Wellspring.
\nHere, even the starving man can feed the Bread of Life with the food of love.
\nHere, even the naked man can cover the Creator of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.
\nHere, even the weakest child can protect the Mighty God.
\nHere even the fool can converse with Wisdom.<\/p>\n

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would show me pity, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. (Psalm 68:20). Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Can a poor <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beatitudes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-1kG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5126"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5136,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5126\/revisions\/5136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}