Fourth Sunday of the Year (Year A)

Fourth Sunday of the Year January 29, 2023

Readings:  Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31;   Matthew 5:1-12

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“Happiness is that which all [men] seek.” So says the great philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle also observes that everything people do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, is what they believe will bring them happiness in one form or another. But the problem is that what people think will bring them happiness does not in fact always bring them true and lasting happiness. Think of the drunkard who believes that happiness is found in the beer bottle. One bottle too much and he is driving home, runs the red light, hits a car and wakes up the following morning in a hospital with plaster and stiches all over his body. Then it begins to dawn on him that the happiness promised by alcohol may be too short-lived. Or take the man who frequents the casino to deal excitement. By the end of the month he finds that his account is in the red and that he can no longer pay his house rent. Creditors go after him until he loses his house and his car. Then it dawns on him that the happiness promised by the casino is fake. So Aristotle says that the ethical person is the person who knows and does what can truly bring them not just excitement or pleasure but true and lasting happiness.

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