Fourth Sunday of the Year January 29, 2023
Readings: Zephaniah
2:3; 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31;
Matthew 5:1-12
Another word for true and lasting happiness is “blessedness”
or “beatitude.” In today’s gospel, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount shows that
he really wants his followers to have true and lasting happiness, the happiness
that the world and everything in it cannot give. This state of blessedness is
what Jesus calls being in the “kingdom of God/heaven”. The eight beatitudes we
have in today’s gospel constitute a road map for anyone who seeks to attain
this happiness of the kingdom.
The first reading is from the book of Zephaniah, and he urges
kings and people to value justice and humility.
Both ideals are grounded in total service to God. If God’s standards take precedence over
earthly concerns, the sort of conditions will prevail that value all citizens
of the kingdom as God’s children.
Humility before God is essential to realize the gracious gifts from God.
The Gospel of today directs us to a method in which we can
respond to him. We have the Sermon on
the Mount as presented by Matthew, which is the Christian ethical teaching and
the core of the Christian way of life.
Jesus gives us the Beatitudes in his sermon delivered from a Mountain
and the Mountain in the Bible indicates a holy place where God is present. Here Jesus presents us with real opposing
values, those of Jesus and the world. He
teaches us that we can create happiness and the capacity for joy by ourselves
and radiate them to others, to receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is important to notice today’s situation. Today, the
rich, the famous, and the powerful are often referred to as the “blessed” ones
and this implies that the rest of us are not blessed. But with the Beatitudes we are reminded that
anything against God’s commands is never a blessing. So really the riches, the fame and the power
are only a blessing if they were attained in faithfulness to God. In the same way, the poor, hungry, the
oppressed, and the like, are not automatic curses. They may be blessings if they were attained
in faithfulness to God. Relationship
with God, not our worldly status, determines blessedness. Blessed is being always in the grace and favour
of God.
The chapter five, “The Universal Call to Holiness”, of the
Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)
takes up the matter that all who believe in Jesus Christ regardless of their
vocation in life are called to holiness. How to be holy? The answer is today’s
gospel – the beatitudes. Therefore, never miss an opportunity to be holy and
follow the Lord in our given mission.
There is a humour for you here.
Several years ago, a priest was transferred to a distant
village church in his diocese. Some
weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his church to
the nearest town. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had
accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do,
he told himself, ‘You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep
it.' Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it,
it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? it as a 'gift
from God' and keep quiet.' When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the
door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'Here, you gave me
too much change. ‘The driver, with a smile, replied, 'you are the new priest in
the village, right?' 'Yes' he replied.
'Well, I have lately been thinking a lot about going somewhere to pray.
I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you extra change. You'll see
me at church on Sunday.' When the
priest stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole,
held on, and said, ‘Oh God, I almost sold you for a quarter!'
Happy Sunday
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