Browsing by Author "Estrada Meza, Luis Alfredo"

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    The Beatitudes In Matthew's Gospel: A Source Of Strength And Consolation For The Church In South Sudan
    (Tangaza University College, 2003) Estrada Meza, Luis Alfredo
    Since I joined the Comboni Missionaries, I have known about the Church in Southern Sudan as the one struggling in poverty and persecution. This was one of the reasons the Comboni Missionaries served in these areas. Even now, poverty and persecution are still characteristics of these people. As I have had the opportunity to visit Southern Sudan (also called New Sudan), I came to know first hand the suffering of the people. They are mainly Christians who hope to live in peace on their own land, yet many now are displaced. War and tension are always present, and they must flee at a moment's notice any moment, when the Antonov I comes to bomb the village or some other kind of attack may befall them. As Christians, their questions and my questions are the same: what can God tell us about this situation? Where is Ile at this moment of poverty and persecution? I believe Ile is already acting by pouring out his Spirit, but I also believe he has something else to say to these poor, abandoned children. They are God's preferred ones The beatitudes are the Magna Carta of the gospel of Matthew. In them, God's kingdom is central and speaks with a powerful voice to the Church. The Church of Matthew's gospel also suffered persecution and poverty after the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem. This catastrophic event left the people without identity. Only God himself could bring them consolation Through poverty and persecution, they became the people of the beatitudes. Both Matthew's community and the southern Sudanese Christians, experience poverty and persecution. I hope to examine the beatitudes as consolation strength for the Church of southern Sudan. I will present the situation of both Churches, and state how the beatitudes challenge their situations. I will highlight common elements in both situations that speak of God's Kingdom as visible, despite moments of hopelessness and discouragement. In chapter one, I will present the situation of the Church in Matthew's gospel and the important events that separated the Matthew's community from other Jewish groups, especially the Jewish-Christian portion of the community that lived more tins separation. I will present also the challenge of recovering the identity of the Matthew's community, with the beatitudes that promise consolation. Chapter two provides an analysis of the beatitudes as important theological expression for the community of Matthew. I will show how they are characteristic of a Christian community. The beatitudes are presented in a way that help us to see how God is acting among his people. In chapter three, I will provide a short history of the situation of the Church of southern Sudan that will help us to understand better the current situation of war. Also, I will be presenting the challenges of the Church in southern Sudan, which is called to give consolation and strength to the people, living poverty and persecution. Finally, in chapter four, I will try to show how the same beatitudes are also consolation and answer to the situation of persecution and poverty in Southern Sudan. The Church there has similar situations to the Church of Matthew. In this part, I stress the importance of the Small Christian Communities (SCC) as a way to share the experience of God's Kingdom as a poor and persecuted Church.