SUNDAY RELECTIONS: FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

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

(Rev. Dr. Francis Perry Azah)

On this Sunday, we hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which includes the Beatitudes. These Beatitudes are the blueprints of our Christian journey and the most basic and important concepts of our faith, of our attitude toward God and our attitude toward one another. The Beatitudes are clear, focused pictures of what Christ expects from us, his followers. We are challenged to place them in strategic positions in our lives, to be looked at and reflected on regularly. Whether in the time of Jesus or today, the Beatitudes represent an eccentric set of values; to be true to the Beatitudes is a risky stance. Those who hold to this view of the world are countercultural and may face derision for following this weird reversal of expectations. In the words and actions of Jesus, we hear a call not only to be ready to display our spirituality but to live it in plain view of the entire world.

The original Greek word of the Beatitudes is “happy” in an ordinary sense, but it also means one who is especially happy, favored, or fortunate. That is why it is translated “blessed.”  Happiness is that which all men seek. But the problem is that what people think will bring them happiness does not, in fact, always do so. 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. 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.” The eight beatitudes we have in today’s gospel constitute a road map for anyone who seeks to attain this happiness of the kingdom. Why does Jesus deem it necessary to establish these guideposts to the kingdom right from the very first teaching that he gives to the disciples? It is because of the importance of this teaching. Everybody seeks happiness. But often we look for it in the wrong places. Ask people around you what makes them happy, and compare their answers with the answers Jesus gives. The world has its own idea of happiness.

The prophet Zephaniah, Christ and Paul, encourage us to reflect on the rewards of everlasting blessings, comfort, happiness, peace, and joy that awaits us when we are poor in spirit, seek peace, trust God, when we obey God, when we are humble, strive to do His will and live in the spirit of total abandonment to His providence and divine mercy. The call for us to live the “beatitude”- poverty of the spirit, peace, hunger for justice, mercy, pure of heart, and bearing suffering for the sake of the Gospel, trusting God unconditionally, becomes more and more urgent in our world today, characterized by conflict and rivalry with the erosion of family values. A world crippled by selfishness, individualism, the pursuit of wealth, and secularism. The aggressive pursuit of personal wealth and satisfaction has left many less interested in promoting the common good. In terms of communication, individual neighbors have become anonymous while electronic objects are starting to talk to us.

We know God is the supreme peacemaker, love, righteousness, and mercy. We are invited as God’s sons and daughters in our own little ways and capacities to participate in living these characteristics of a true disciple of Christ in our homes, families, Church communities, and in the general public. We are invited to promote peace and justice by being meek and gentle in our words, actions, and thoughts, pursuing righteousness, and ready to forgive and be merciful to others after the example of Christ, the true source of our happiness. While consoling the underprivileged, Christ has positive commands for those of his followers who are in a position to carry them out. “Blessed are the merciful,” he says. That is to say: those who will show mercy and compassion to their suffering, needy neighbors can rest assured that God will be merciful to them on the Day of Judgment.