Prague and the Holy Land: May 18, 2019, The Mount of the Beatitudes

It is fitting that the Mt. of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus gave us the Christian mission, is on a mountain covered with beautiful flowers and with a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee.

Collect

O Father, through your Son here you taught the beatitudes

to the disciples and the crowds.

May your people love what you command, and desire what you promise,

so that, in the midst of the events of the world,

our hearts may look beyond, where there is true joy.

The grounds are tropical and lovely.

The Beatitudes were given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-12. Luke contains a corresponding Sermon on the Plain, which in many ways is similar to the Sermon on the Mount, but refers to social conditions, rather than the spiritual conditions contained in Matthew's account. Here is the Sermon on the Plain, Luke 6:20-23.

Raising his eyes to his disciples, Jesus said:
Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.

Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you,

and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!

Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.

The church on the Mount of Beatitudes was built in 1938.

Its simple interior is quietly beautiful.

In many of the churches I visit, I take a picture of the Ninth Station of the Cross, Jesus falls the third time. This station is of comfort to me: Jesus falls, once, twice, three times--and gets up. We can get up, too, when we fall.