Turning the World Around

The beatitudes in Luke’s gospel are full of “blessed ares” and “woe tos.” We hear the familiar voice of Jesus saying, "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled,” and, “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.” These beatitudes are very literal, in contrast to the more spiritualized ones in Matthew’s gospel where we hear “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…”

In Luke’s beatitudes we hear Jesus sing a song of a world turned around upside down…the hungry are filled, the full are sent away empty, the hated and reviled receive their reward, and those who are adored and put on a pedestal end up like the prophets. Jesus’s song in the beatitudes sounds like a song we’ve sung before, a song first sung by his mother Mary. “God has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly,” Mary sings, “the Holy One has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” Mary sings of God, who, in Rory Cooney’s paraphrase, Canticle of the Turning, is “turning the world around.”

I don’t know about you, but I definitely think the world could use a bit of turning around. At our best, the church provides a vision of what a world turned around might look like. Fueled by the power that goes out from Jesus, that power we receive in the Eucharist week after week, our hearts are set ablaze with love for the world, a love that is stronger than any of the death-dealing powers we might encounter. God empower us to turn the world around by acting with strength to help end the scourge of gun violence in our world and particularly in our SCHOOLS. God empowers us to turn the world around by lifting up the voices and songs of our siblings too often silenced because of the color of their skin, their gender identity, or who they love or marry. God empowers us to turn the world around by providing a safe place for people struggling with their mental health to be loved and cared for rather than too often being judged by the world as flawed. God empowers us to turn the world around by making sure our neighbors have their basic needs met, are connected to community, and experience delight on a regular basis.

Sometimes we feel like our own inner world is the one that needs to be turned upside down. We see pictures of everyone’s fabulous lives on social media and it reminds us of how much we long for the deep connection with another, a connection we can’t ever seem to obtain. We empty ourselves caring for an ailing loved one and wonder if our own inner reserves will ever be filled again. Luke’s beatitudes and Mary’s song are for us to. God’s power comes out to meet us and to turn our world around, making our hearts to sing again, perhaps at first in a whispering song of tentative hope, and then later a full-voiced aria of rejoicing as God’s stronger-than-death love brings spring to our wintry hearts.

My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fire of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.