Saint Paul reminds us that the world in its present form is passing away. While Jesus declares blessed precisely those whom the world considers unfortunate: the poor, hungry, sorrowful, and rejected. Saint Peter Claver, whose memorial is celebrated in the United States but can be made a point for our reflection wherever we may be found, especially here in Canada and most especially in places like Colombia, made this Gospel startlingly concrete. He left security behind and spent more than 40 years serving the enslaved Africans arriving in Cartagena, Colombia, identifying himself with those whom society had placed at the very bottom.