Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Lately, I’ve been writing about the Beatitudes, how women saints lived them, and what we can learn from them. The one that has taken the most pondering to date is Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
I get the concept of spiritual poverty—not that I live it anywhere near as well as the four women I’m profiling—but that part about the
kingdom of heaven has taken a while. That those who abandon all their emotional and physical baggage get to heaven before the rest of us? That they are finding glimpses of heaven here on earth?
Maybe the answer is in today’s Gospel reading, when Jesus tells the elders and chief priests in Matthew 21:31: “Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you.” Maybe “before you” shouldn’t conjure up images of a long queue with Peter at the gate a la TSA, carefully checking identifications for most of us, with a privileged few who qualify for TSA PreCheck as tax collectors and prostitutes waltzing right on through. Maybe we’re putting the emphasis in the wrong place. Perhaps Jesus is referring to his earthly presence as the kingdom of God, and that it is indeed before them all, there for the taking if only they would recognize it.
And maybe, instead of that long line later on, we have the opportunity for early check-in every day when we praise him, adore him, and love others in his name.
