13 September 2023 - Wednesday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time - St John Chrysostom - Bishop and Doctor of the Church - Luke 6:20-26

      As a priest, I can see how the Beatitudes can be perplexing to us Catholic. They are supposed to be blessings, but many of the qualities in the Beatitudes are not viewed as blessings, such as grief or poverty or being the object of hatred or derision. But, sometimes when we are thrown out of our comfort zone, when we are pushed and stretched passed what we think is possible, those can be times of great enrichment and growth.  Those may be the important times when God calls us to ministry. As a missionary in a rain forest jungle or an inner city soup kitchen, as a priest visiting inmates in a state prison, when I started those ministries, I wondered if I had the capabilities and inner strength to be able serve in those ministries.  Now, I see them as great blessings, calling me to embrace the values of the Beatitudes. Sometimes, the Beatitudes challenge the things that we assume to be the foundation of our culture and our personal values. 

      The saints exemplify the beatitudes in many different ways. St John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople from the last half of the 4th century, is the saint we celebrate today.  He was in the second group of Early Church fathers who were named to be Doctors of the Church. He was known for his great teaching and preaching abilities. Politics brought him to the seat of Archbishop in Constantinople, but he was direct and honest in the way he preached to the people, not catering to the rich and influential of society. He preached a Gospel that reached out to the poor in justice and integrity. In fact, he once said: “If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the Church door, you will not find him in the chalice.”  His honesty and his candor finally caught up to him when he was sent into exile by the Emperor where he died in 407. John Chrysostom started his life as a monk, yet his gifts of preaching and teaching, as well as his declining health, brought him to serve the Church as a Bishop. He is remembered today as one of the patriarchs of the Early Church.  St John Chrysostom, we unite our prayers to yours.