Living as Blessed – Who You are Meant to Be
(Prov 3:27-34; Ps 15; Lk 8:16-18)
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When he turned fifty, folk-music legend Bob Dylan was asked by Rolling Stone magazine if he was happy. He replied, “These are Yuppie words, happiness and unhappiness; its either blessed or unblessed. As the Bible says, ‘Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.’ Now that must be a happy man. Knowing you are the person you were put on this Earth to be – that’s much more important than just being happy. Anyway, happiness is just a balloon – it’s just temporary stuff.”
Bob Dylan
Dylan’s comments are very much in line with the Book of Proverbs and the gospel for today and their message to us – pray for humble faith to bless and be blessed, to let our light shine, to love and be loved.
The Book of Proverbs is wonderful collection of sayings about how to acquire wisdom. It’s about knowing how to be the person you were put on this Earth to be. And the person we are meant to be is a righteous person who knows he or she has been blessed by God, and who can bless others.
The word “blessing” comes from the Latin “bene-dicere” which means to speak well of. A blessing is important because it establishes our dignity, gives us identity, and provides us with security.
To be blessed is another way of saying we are loved by God. God “blessed” Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan and at the transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son – listen to him.” The Father loved and blessed us when he sent Jesus to live and die for us and poured out upon us his blessing, especially the Holy Spirit – the ultimate blessing from God.
The opposite of a blessing – to be cursed, is not about swearing. It is about withholding a compliment – the love people need. We hurt more by our words or withheld compliments than by bullets or knives.
In the readings today, to be blessed is to be righteous. It is to do good now. It is to forgive, and to accept without envy. It is to be humble, yet to let our light shine and to be a light to the world. It is to use our gifts to serve others, or we will lose them. In the end, these are all qualities of a disciple, someone who is actively living in the reign of God and building up that reign.
Marianne Williamson, in A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles comments on letting our light shine:
Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Today, the Canadian church honors Émilie Tavernier who was born in Montreal in 1800. By the age of 28, she had endured the death of her husband and three children, drawing her closer to Our Lady of Sorrows. Émilie devoted her life to the poor, sick, orphaned and imprisoned, setting up Houses of Providence for their care. With the blessing of Bishop Bourget, she founded the Sisters of Providence in 1843, and became their Superior in 1844. Her last words as she lay dying in 1851 were “humility, simplicity, charity, but above all, charity.” Émilie Tavernier-Gamelin was beatified in 2001 – someone who could bless and let her light shine.
Blessed Émilie Tavernier
The Eucharist is itself a blessing from God. Not only are bread and wine blessed, transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ and shared among us, but we are also blessed, spoken well of, and like Jean, sent out into the world to let our light shine and to be a blessing to others.
In closing, here are some thoughts by William Butler Yeats:
My fiftieth year come and gone.
I sit, a solitary man,
In a crowded London shop,
An open book and empty cup
On a marble table-top.
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed so great my happiness
That I was blessed and could bless.
(Vacillation, Verse IV)
William Butler Yeats
We should let the light shine upon us when we discover ourselves and our dignity. We should know and try to understand ourselves better what we are meant to be. Once we know ourselves we would know how to act towards other people. God knows what kind of person we are because he is the one that created us. We are God’s children and he has taught us how to love ourselves and loving other people. We are to show our love towards God and his son Jesus Christ. He sent his son to complete his word by teaching us about love and being blessed. He is the chosen one to be the Messiah and will lead us to eternal life. If we put our faith in following him and listen to him he will help us and bless us in the end. So we are born to shine with joy and inspiring pleasures toward others and God . We should open ourselves up to receive this light and blessing that is meant for us. God is waiting for us to shine on earth and the whole world so their is peace than hatred. The word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Thanks for the homilies and pictures of Australia, keep on going. Thanks for sharing Bishop Lavoie.