The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
You know Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. Even if you can’t recite it, once you hear “blessed are you,” I imagine you know the passage.
Christ’s words here contain a central message of his earthly ministry; no matter what life gives you now, if you trust in God and follow Him, you will be fulfilled in the next life. This was part of what made Christianity so popular in the beginning: it gave hope to those who felt hopeless. Even if every day here feels difficult, heaven will make even the worst days of this life worth it.
But… does anyone else struggle with this message sometimes?
In the midst of suffering, it can feel a bit “too little, too late.” How are we to feel about Christ’s words when we are at the end of our rope? When we are just so tired of every day being hard? Especially when we experience long bouts of spiritual dryness and don’t feel the presence of God to strengthen and fortify us while we run the race, it can seem like a series of nice platitudes instead.
There is so much joy to be found in this life. God created this amazing and fantastic world for us. Beyond the outpouring of grace found in the sacraments, He has given us a world with music and solar eclipses, wildflowers and snowflakes, shooting stars and mountains and oceans… and, most importantly, dogs!
But what happens when we can’t can’t experience that joy in its fullness? Sometimes for a season, sometimes for what feels like our entire lives. Saying things will be worth it later is hard to swallow when now is miserable. What do we do then?
We remember that all of the delights of this world are just a bonus. We can focus on creation so much that we miss the Creator.
Christ did not come to point us to know Him just in the next life. We aren’t just supposed to look toward heaven as we go through the motions of today. Christ came down to earth so we would know Him personally now. That is what makes the difficulties of today worth it. We must follow Him and walk with Him.
Christ is with us in this moment, even if we don’t feel Him. We do not have to wait for heaven. We can live the Beatitudes now. The kingdom of God is here, especially in the Mass, with Christ physically present in the Eucharist. Strip everything else away and we still have access to God, through His Son, in every moment of the day.
Marissa Rankin is a classical singer in Nashville, Tennessee. She and her husband live with their rescue pup, Ewok, and share their home with foster dogs. She is the creator of Covenant Co., a series of resources for engaged and married Catholics, where she aspires to remind the Church that marriage is a vocation, too!