I don’t know what came over me. I’d normally shrink from doing this.
But I had served as cantor and leader of song that Sunday morning, and as the congregation was filing out I was seated in a front pew near the sacristy door. So I got up and went in.
The parish pastor was putting his vestments away when I spoke to him, politely pointing out that the readings that day had used language that spoke of “man” or “men” when the meaning indicated that all persons were intended. I added that this language had carried over into the sermon, with the inaccurate generic “man” repeated. (The pastor was a non-native speaker of English.)
He snorted back,
“You must learn to be humble!”
I smiled gently and replied,
“Men must also learn to be humble.”
Our Gospel reading for last Sunday was Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, praising meekness and humility. For this Sunday it’s the follow-up, about letting one’s light shine. Do these two fit together?
In the Beatitudes, the standard translations into English clearly indicate all persons in a particular category (“the poor, the meek, those who mourn”) are addressed. But we know today that in fact categories such as gender are socially constructed. Disparaging stereotypes, blatant prejudice, even exhortations to certain behaviour such as “Be humble!” can too often operate freely. Is this justice? Is this even reflective of reality? Does this create a safe community for all?
Let’s look at the background of Matthew’s Beatitudes. Jesus is speaking here, not to the crowd but to his first four disciples. Matthew’s and Luke’s Beatitudes vary greatly in structure but the original source material is believed by scholars to reflect authentically Jesus’ teaching via an early source known as Q. According to Benedict Viviano in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, they represent
“an exclamation of congratulations that recognizes an existing state of happiness… a cry of joy.”
The poor, the needy, those who mourn, are all adjectives for the same people, the subjects of Jesus’ compassionate ministry:
“God was conceived of as an Oriental king, and a king’s duty was to protect the weak.”
Matthew introduces a spiritual dimension to economic poverty by speaking of the poor in spirit.
“In the Bible economic destitution was an evil to be corrected and wealth is not an evil in itself … but it risks neglect of God and the poor. God’s first priority is the care of the poor.”
Using striking, apparently contradictory images, Matthew sets out a program of moral growth in virtue: refusal to covet wealth, generosity, gentleness, mourning the existence of human evil on earth, seeking and granting mercy, refusal to wreak vengeance, sincerity of heart, and the making of peace in its fullest sense, Shalom.
Notice we haven’t said anything here about deliberately weakening people by neglect or aggression. Nothing about making others easy to manipulate with propaganda or threats, submissive to unjust domination or vulnerable to exploitation or danger. No hint that God intends to crush those who already struggle to maintain some semblance of dignity.
That is not Matthew’s God (however much we might quibble with the “Oriental king” image.) Not ours either.
Obviously someone who’s been squashed into meekness and humility won’t dare to let their light shine anywhere. The light shines through a lens of strength and courage. Sometimes you have to walk into the sacristy to make a little “good trouble.” Or into an office. Or into a broadcast studio. Or onto the street.
© Susan K. Roll
*Revised from the Reflection of January 29, 2023
Susan Roll retired from the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, in 2018, where she served as Director of the Sophia Research Centre. Her research and publications are centred in the fields of liturgy, sacraments, and feminist theology. She holds a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of Leuven (Louvain), Belgium, and has been involved with international academic societies in liturgy and theology, as well as university chaplaincy, Indigenous ministry and church reform projects.
I was struck by the insight you quoted: “God’s first priority is the care of the poor.” That certainly clarifies any immigration questions, government and private spending questions, colonization questions … etc.
Way to go, Susan! Thanks for encouraging us to let our light shine on inclusive language use!