Reflection & Dialogue with Questions of the Day: Call of the Sermon in the believing community, in civil and secular society.
In Church life. Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes and the Sermon are clearly addressed to his disciples, not to the crowds. He stresses, as Lord, that his words on the Kingdom, be put into practice, not just listened to. His words are for all time, for the Church of our own day, that is all believing disciples, not just the “institutional” Church. Christ should be at the very centre of belief and practice of Church life, that is of the believing community. It should be characterized by the spirit of Jesus, of the Beatitudes, not of a secular society. It should be one of mercy, of forgiveness, of a non-judgemental nature. This they called to live in so far as possible in the society in which they live. Often they will be called ton do this keeping in mind another saying of Jesus: “Be as wise as serpents, but as gentles as doves”. It is great to see public examples of this when some grievously offended and grieved, after verdicts in court cases, say that they pardon the perpetrator.
In civil and secular society. The central message of the Sermon, as presented by Luke, has in a variety of ways influenced modern society in its call for forgiveness, not revenge, but this is not the place to develop this point.
